Bravery
by njborba
Summary: When a member of the BAU is accused of kidnapping, the team rallies to help their friend and search for the missing child.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 1

By N. J. Borba

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The little girl tried to sniff back her tears as she watched raindrops race down the exterior of the car window. Some would carve out new paths, while others rolled down the same line of the one that had come before it. She tried to pretend it was a maze game, like the ones her nanny, Molly, sometimes played with her. But Molly wasn't with her at the moment. She didn't know who was with her; she just remembered waking up strapped securely to a booster seat in the back of a car she didn't recognize. Her body shook a little as the vehicle rumbled along. She was cold and frightened, clinging to the stuffed ladybug in her arms as she sniffed again.

"I wanna go home now, please," she whispered.

A women's face peered back at her through the rearview mirror. "We _are_ going home, Kacey."

She didn't like that the woman knew her name. And she didn't like the woman's crooked smile. It scared her. "To see daddy?" the child asked.

"Yes, of course we're going to see daddy," the woman replied, her tone calm and overly sweet. Kacey didn't like the woman's voice either. "Daddy will be home by the time we get there, and he'll be so happy to finally meet you. We've been waiting a long time for you."

Kacey didn't know what to think, or what to believe. The woman driving wasn't the nanny she was used to, or anyone else she recognized. And she didn't know where her daddy was. He worked a lot and went away on business trips all the time, but he always made sure to tell her where he was going and when he'd be back. And he hadn't told her anything about a new nanny or going to visit him. But she was helpless to do anything other than sit and wait, watching as the raindrops continued to chase each other down the window pane, much the same as the tears that trailed down her cheeks.

"I just wanna go home, please," Kacey cried.

xxx

Emily knocked on his door and poked her head inside the small office. "You busy?"

Derek's pen paused in mid-sentence as he looked up. Her voice filled his heart with a happy ache and he smiled to see her standing there. They'd woken up in each other's arms earlier that morning, but he felt sort of like a restless teenager, thinking about how much he'd missed her since they'd parted before heading to work separately. "If you're planning to stay a few minutes then I can certainly make myself un-busy," he replied, dropping the pen all together and rising to his feet.

His warm, inviting smile caused Emily to wonder how she ever could have thought to resist his charms. After just a few days of knowing him, she'd concluded that he wasn't her type. Yet with each passing day he kept evolving into someone she cared more deeply about. At first it had been their shared love of Vonnegut and the way they always instinctively watched out for one another in the field. From there they'd both slowly peeled back their protective layers. Emily had tried to deny her feelings for some time, making excuses along the way. She didn't want them to lose their jobs, and she didn't want her heart broken again, because that had cost her far too much pain once before. But denial had a funny way of fading with time. Before long, Derek Morgan had become firmly entrenched in her life.

The door closed and he took her right hand in his, guiding her toward the far corner of his office. It was the one place he knew the security camera couldn't view. Derek pressed her against the wall, threaded the hair at the back of her neck through his fingers, and kissed her. Eyes closed, lips met, and serenity settled in for a short snippet of time. But their tender conversation, spoken louder than any words, was over much too quickly. It was all rather ridiculously clandestine, but Emily Prentiss seemed to make his reasoing fly out the window. He knew it was more than that, though. She'd gotten under his skin like no other woman had before. Granted, it had taken nearly three years for him to act on it, but he'd never let himself trust anyone so completely, like he'd come to trust her.

Something still held him back, though. Derek knew Emily was the kind of woman who deserved the whole package; love, marriage, kids, and a house to go along with all of it. He could handle the house, even love and maybe marriage. But kids frightened him; the thought of holding innocent life in his hands and being responsible for shaping and molding that life. He was more willing to track down the lowliest UnSub than he was to take on the roll of fatherhood. But it ran even deeper than that. He was afraid his abuse had placed a permanent mark on his heart; that somehow being taken in by a monster had turned a small part of him into one. Some days that line of thinking seemed absurd. Other days it clung to him like the smell of stale sweat; a deep, pungent stench that was hard to wash away.

Her lips tingled from his brief touch, but she tried to regroup. "That's not why I came to see you," Emily let him know, revealing the thick file in her left hand.

"Of course not," he took the file from her and returned to his desk.

She slipped into the seat across from him. "Those are the medical reports for the Evan Webster case." Emily knew the man had killed half a dozen women in Utah, splitting open their abdomens and removing lengths of intestine. She hadn't been on board for that most recent fieldtrip due to a bout of food poisoning that had laid her out for nearly three full work days. Bad shrimp had curdled her stomach worse than seeing the evidence of Webster's crimes. Some days it scared her to realize how indifferent she was becoming to the horrors they dealt with. "Hotch said you were finishing up and needed that."

"So, now you're a messenger girl? Is there anything you can't do?" Derek teased, using humor as his failsafe against the stronger emotions welling in his chest. Morgan had a feeling he'd learned that trick from her somewhere along the way. "You still feeling okay?" his concern finally seeped through a second later, despite his best efforts to keep things business like between them.

Emily was touched by his worry. "I'm fine," she assured him. "As for being a messenger… Hotch was passing by my desk, he looked rushed as usual, so I offered to drop the file off for him," she swallowed. "And we really need to be more careful about what we do around here."

Morgan nodded, noticing the serious look on her face. "You're right, as usual. So, maybe we should make plans for doing something outside of the office. How about tonight? Do you have any dates with a hot tub that I should know about, or maybe a hot stud?"

As hard as she tried, Emily couldn't remain serious for long where he was concerned. She worried it would get them into big trouble some day. "You've been hanging around Garcia too much, she's made you full of yourself. And I'll be spending the weekend alone, unless a better offer comes along."

Derek's right hand covered his heart. "You are a cruel woman, Emily Prentiss."

She stood up and moved toward the door, chuckling softly at his antics. "Well, this cruel woman needs to get back to work." Emily opened the swinging partition, but turned to glance at him over her shoulder. "You'll let me know when you're about to leave this evening?"

"Count on it," he replied.

xxx

Emily spent the rest of her day catching up and wading through a sea of reports, work that often seemed pointless to her. She wondered who it was that decided everything in the world needed to be broken down into tiny bits of factual information. Some days she wished their reports could be summed up in short, succinct words, such as... _UnSub caught; good guys win, bad guys lose._ Or even... _A crap load of people are dead because the bad guy got away. Hours of therapy later we'll still be a shell of our former selves for having been wrong this time. And we'll have to deal with that pain for the rest of our lives. The end._ Unfortunately, the FBI brass usually liked things much more thorough, and less emotional.

She ran both hands through her hair and looked away from the computer screen, realizing she definitely needed a break. Reid plopped down in his chair giving her the perfect opportunity to distance herself from work for a moment. "So, do you have any big plans for the weekend?" Emily asked him. "It seems we might actually get a full two days off. Or, rather, you and the others will. I'll probably be spending those days here, still trying to catch up. And I certainly won't be ordering Thai take-out any time during those two days," she joked.

Reid looked up, pleased to have her back. "Well, there's a chess tournament in the park that I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And I also reserved both of the Spock vs. Q audio CDs at the library. I haven't listened to those in a while."

Her mouth hung open for a second, head shaking from side to side. "Seriously, Reid? Do you really need to re-listen to them? First of all, I'm surprised you didn't memorize all the details of those recordings after just one time through. And second, Spock wins hands down," she stated, as if there was nothing to be debated.

"But Q is omnipotent!" he protested. "And my memory is eidetic, which means it's based on image recall, not sound."

Her eyes rolled in an exaggerated fashion. "I know what the word eidetic means, _Einstein_. Anyhow, Spock is wise from having gained knowledge over his many years of experience and living. Q is just a part of the Continuum, so his powers and knowledge were sort of always there, right?"

"Which is what makes his story even more interesting," Reid perked up, fingers poised above his coffee mug. "He didn't have to try to understand humanity, he wanted to. Sort of the way Data tried to learn what it meant to become human. That struggle and awareness is something we can all identify with."

A gentle nod of her head acquiesced to that point. "But Leonard Nimoy's voice is so… textured. Not to mention, there is something I find very sexy about pointy ears," she joked.

Spencer quickly stuck his fingers in his ears. "I don't think I want to be having this conversation with you anymore."

"What conversation is that?" Morgan asked, sauntering toward them with a file folder in one hand. He stopped and stood in the aisle between their two desks, his eyes moving from one to the other in a questioning manner. "I'm missing out on important stuff by not being in the bullpen, aren't I?"

Emily caught Reid's eye and they both chuckled softly. The young doctor nodded for her to be the one to ask. "Well, since you don't want to be left out… Spock vs. Q, who wins?" she asked.

Derek's face shifted to one of confusion. "Who and what?"

She sighed; a lopsided grin perched upon her lips. "We really need to nerd you up a little more."

"And now I know I haven't been missing anything important by not being out here with the Wonder Twins," Morgan surmised.

"Wonder Twins?" Emily's brow arched. "I'm impressed, Morgan. Perhaps there is a little nerd lurking inside you after all," she grinned. "Although, if Reid and I start holding hands and talking about activating our profiler powers, I'll be the first one to let you call the men in white coats."

Reid couldn't help himself. "You know… Zan was only able to take on the properties of water and Jayna's shape shifting abilities were pretty much limited to animal forms," he explained. "So, I'm not really sure how that would help us with a profile."

Morgan and Emily stared at him for a moment before laughter consumed them. "You always gotta take it just a little too far, kid," Derek shook his head.

Their fun ended a little abruptly when the three of them noticed the light in Hotch's office go out. Their boss, briefcase in hand, descended the short staircase and focused on Morgan. "Did you finish up the Webster report?" Hotch asked.

"Right here," Derek waved the file in his hand. "I was just about to leave it with you."

"Good, you can put it on my desk and I'll look it over on Monday. I'm headed out for the weekend," the unit chief replied.

Emily glanced down at her watch. "You do know it's only a quarter to five," she mentioned.

"I have a dinner and movie date with my son tonight," Hotch announced, flashing them all an infrequent smile. "And Dave is all ready off on his weekend duck hunting trip, so why don't the rest of you take off. It's rare that we get this kind of free time. Take it, and use it wisely," he advised.

"I have a lot to catch up on after being gone…" Emily started to protest.

"Prentiss," Hotch stopped her from continuing. "You still look a little green around the gills. You should take the weekend off like the rest of us," the man insisted as he edged toward the main doors.

They watched him go. "Was that our boss, or some pod clone?" Emily asked.

"I'm not going to question it," Derek chuckled and broke away, planning to run the file into Hotch's office before following his boss's orders. The prospect of spending the next two days with Emily loomed in his sights and brought a little extra spring to his step. He was just half-way up the short flight of stairs when he heard a familiar voice and turned back to see Strauss making her way through the bullpen.

"Agent Prentiss," the older woman came to a stop beside Emily's desk. There was an agent in a dark suit with her.

Emily got to her feet and stood in an almost military stance before the woman. Even after all the crap Erin Strauss had put Hotch and the team through, she projected an air about her that demanded respect. Emily only gave what she got in return, though, and challengingly eyed the woman. "Director Strauss, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes," Strauss motioned toward the man at her side. "This is Agent Morris from the St. Louis field office. He's come to ask you a few questions."

"About what?" Emily's heart beat a little faster, not liking the combination of the man's stern face and his connection to a city she'd once lived and worked in; a city which still held a rather large chunk of her heart. She noticed that Hotch had backtracked and was standing just behind Strauss and the other agent. Morgan had also wedged in closer from her opposite side. And Reid was looking on with keen interest. "Is there something I can help you with, Agent Morris?"

Morris was tall, with blonde hair and green eyes. He looked almost like a stone statue as he stood beside Strauss. "I need to speak with you in regard to a possible child abduction," he relayed in a calm manner.

"Possible?" Emily nervously ran her tongue along her bottom lip, then bit down gently on it. "If a child is missing then we should be on the case." Emily quickly glanced over at Hotch, looking to him for some sort of support.

"Can you account for your whereabouts from midnight to four o'clock this morning?" Morris asked.

Her eyes widened at the accusatory tone she heard in his voice. "Excuse me?"

"Perhaps we could discuss this privately," Strauss suggested, noticing that the bullpen had gone rather quiet and others were staring.

"The conference room is free," Hotch gladly led the way. The group of six settled around the table, Strauss and Morris across from Emily. Reid and Derek sat to her right, Hotch to her left. It seemed the sides of an unknown battle were all ready clearly defined. Hotch eyed Strauss and then Morris. "With all due respect, Prentiss is right. If there's been an abduction the FBI should be running point on search efforts. 4am was over twelve hours ago. I really don't think I need to explain to you that time is of the essence in such a matter," he concluded.

Morris appeared unmoved as he flipped open the folder in front of him. "No, you don't need to explain, Agent Hotchner," he addressed the man, not looking up while he perused the file. His green eyes then rose, latching on to Emily. "Which is why I was sent to speak with you," he let her know. "You are the biological mother of this child," he shoved a photograph across the table. "Six-year-old, Kacey Donovan. Is that correct?"

Emily's whole world imploded in that second. Her vision blurred, the floor beneath her seemed to suddenly lurch violently to the left and she was pretty sure her heart had stopped beating. Then everything jolted back into place again as she glanced down at the picture. "Yes," the single word dropped from her lips like a prayer and a wish all wrapped up together. She stared at the child. "What is going on?" Emily asked.

"We're hoping you can help us figure that out, Agent Prentiss," Morris replied, his calm exterior like a wall of ice. "The girl went missing late last night and the child's father has accused you of taking her. So, we need to ask you a few questions. The first being, when was the last time you saw Kacey?" He glanced down at the file again. "It states here that Mr. Donovan has had sole custody of the child for the last five years?"

She opened her mouth and closed it, repeating that process several more times before actual words would form. When they finally did it felt like cotton was stuck in her throat. "I haven't seen Kacey since two weeks after her first birthday," Emily answered the first question. "And, yes, he does have full custody."

"That's rather unusual, isn't it?" Morris dove in again. "In my limited knowledge of the matter, it seems rare that a mother would have all of her rights revoked. You don't even have visitation, and you haven't seen her in five years? Five years is a very long time, especially through the eyes of a child or a mother separated from that child. Did it become too much for you, Agent Prentiss, enough to make you take the child forcibly from her home?"

"We are wasting time here!" Emily slapped her hands down on the table. Even Hotch jumped a little from the force of her outburst. Morris had wanted her upset, and he'd done a damn fine job of it. "Do you have any idea what can happen to a child in twelve hours? _Any_ idea!"

Morris continued to stare at the file. "Can you account for your whereabouts from midnight to four o'clock this morning?

Emily slowly retracted her hands from the table, dragging them along the surface and balling them up in her lap. "I was at home," she told him.

He plucked a pen from his breast pocket and made a note. "Can anyone testify to that fact? Do you live alone? Do you have a boyfriend? What about the last few days? Where have you been? What have you done? Can you account for every hour of your time this week?" he pressed.

"I was away from the office for three days this week, down with a case of food poisoning," she did her best to keep calm. "Last night, I was alone," Emily carefully bit off that lie, trying to protect Derek at all costs. "Today is the first day I've been back since Monday."

The stone-faced agent made another note in the file. "Three days is plenty of time to plan an abduction," Morris mused aloud. "To gather supplies, find a good hiding place for her until you can flee the country, perhaps? Plus you had ample time to fly into St. Louis last night, snatch your daughter and get to work this morning before anyone was the wiser."

"I didn't go anywhere last night. I was at home," Emily growled.

"Right," Morris scoffed. "Alone."

"She wasn't alone," Morgan interjected. "I was with her last night." He watched as Emily glared at him, practically begging him to suck those words back down his throat. But he couldn't. Derek was still reeling from the news that she had a daughter, which had come as a slap in the face in regards to the honesty and trust he felt they'd attained in their relationship. Still, he wasn't about to let her take the fall for a crime he was one hundred percent sure she hadn't committed. "I got back from a case in Utah at about 7pm last night and went straight to her place. I was with her last night."

"Morgan," Hotch's voice was dangerously low, a clear warning. He didn't know if the man was covering for Emily or if he was actually telling the truth, but Hotch didn't think he liked either option very well. "Maybe you should step outside for now and…"

Derek shook his head and stared at Morris. "I was with her until six o'clock this morning."

"And what were the two of you doing all that time?" Morris inquired.

"Do I need to draw you a diagram?" Derek spat.

"Morgan," it was Emily who piped up with a warning this time. She knew her outburst, coupled with Morgan's revelation about their night together, was not doing her any favors. Her eyes locked with Morris. "I did not take Kacey, and the longer we sit here and split hairs over this matter, the longer the real kidnapper has to take her just about anywhere and do just about…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.

Morris grabbed two slips of paper from his file and handed them to Strauss. Then he flipped the file closed. "You're right, this really isn't getting us anywhere." He stood. "Agent Prentiss, I need you to surrender your weapon and place your hands behind your back," he relayed the orders while walking around the table, withdrawing the handcuffs at his waist.

"You're arresting her?" Hotch asked, getting to his feet as well.

"I have a warrant to search her car, residence and all other property holdings, including her work locker," Morris conveyed. "I am not making an official arrest, but I also have documentation which will allow me to hold agent Prentiss for up to seventy-two hours without charge, pending further investigation," he nodded his head toward Strauss who was still looking over the papers.

Hotch frowned as he watched Strauss nod her head in indication of the paperwork being in order. The unit chief faced Emily as Morris cuffed her. "One of us will go with you," he insisted.

"No," she shook her head. "You all need to get to St. Louis as soon as possible. Contact Lucas Donovan, 314-555-8222. I want you on this case," her eyes flicked from Hotch to Reid and settled at last on Morgan. "Please, find Kacey for me."

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**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 2

By N. J. Borba

* * *

Garcia joined Hotch, Reid and Morgan in the conference room. She settled in quickly, her laptop open and running in just a few minutes. Then Derek pushed a photograph toward her and she smiled. It was both a happy and sad emotion that flooded through her. Happy because the child looked full of life; untouched by the cruel realities that lurked in dark corners. Sad because she'd already heard about the girl's identity and what had happened to her. "Oh, wow. It's like someone put Emily in the dryer and shrunk her," Penelope felt a pang of sorrow go out to the woman who had become one of her best friends over the last few years.

"And gave her blue eyes," Derek added as he stared at the girl again. His emotions were still all over the map after everything that had happened in the last half hour, but he couldn't deny that Emily had produced one cute kid. A child she hadn't told any of them about. That fact still rested like a sledgehammer against his heart

JJ breezed into the room, a typical air of control shimmering around her. "I just spoke with Rossi and he's on his way back. ETA is about forty-five minutes. And the jet will be ready to go as soon as he gets here," she reported.

"Good," Hotch said as she sat down to his right. "Were you able to get a hold of Lucas Donovan?"

"Not yet," JJ shook her head. "I've tried twice and the number Emily gave us seems to be a valid cell, but it keeps going straight to voicemail. I left one message telling him it was imperative that we speak."

"His daughter is missing, he's probably dealing with a lot right now and working with the police," Reid reasoned.

Garcia looked up from her screen. "Actually, Donovan isn't scheduled to be back in St. Louis for another few hours," the tech relayed. "He's been in Copenhagen for the last three days and wasn't due back until tomorrow, but he booked a different first-class flight early this morning. I'm assuming that was shortly after he found out about Kacey's disappearance. According to flight records, his trip back has been delayed due to bad weather. They've already got snow falling over there, whereas our November has just been cold and rainy so far."

Derek frowned. "So, he wasn't even home when his daughter was taken?"

"Apparently not," Garcia replied.

There was a quick knock at the door and agent Anderson stepped into the conference room. "Sorry to interrupt, but this is everything the St. Louis field office has on the Donovan kidnapping at the moment," he handed Hotch the file and departed.

Hotch pulled pages from the file and passed them around the table. "They've had over twelve hours, yet there doesn't seem to be much here," he noted, scanning the report in his hand. "No viable prints taken from the house, other than employees. And most of those were everywhere except the girl's room, which is supposedly where she was taken from. The only prints other than the child's in the room belong to the nanny, Molly Conner."

"No signs of forced entry," Derek shook his head, reading further down the page he was holding. "And it looks like the house had a security system." His eyes shot to Penelope. "So, what do we know about this Donovan guy?"

"I know he is majorly made of cashola," Garcia responded, typing faster than most brains could process thoughts. "He co-founded and runs a massive information technology conglomerate called _DV Technologies, Inc_. I'm assuming the DV stands for Donovan and his partner, Jonathon Victor. According to the company's history page on their website, Victor was mainly a financial backer and he passed away three years ago. The company designs one-of-a-kind internet security systems for businesses around the globe. The bulk of it is for web-based shopping sites. And Donovan travels a fare bit to oversee set-up of these systems."

"So, he leaves Kacey at home most of the time when he travels?" Reid guessed.

"I would assume so," Hotch said. "Age six suggests she's in school."

"Correct," Garcia said, having just pulled up that data on her computer. "She stared at St. Ann of Normandy Catholic School last year in Kindergarten and entered the first grade earlier this fall. Teacher is Hannah Barton, classroom of eighteen students. Kacey apparently scored very well on her entry aptitude tests, which placed her in above average categories for her age. As for home life…" the analyst continued to dig, flipping from one subject to the next with practiced ease. "Donovan maintains a small staff at the house, some once-a-week maintenance such as lawn care, linen service and various other repairmen. There is a cook who works five days a week, and a regular maid who comes in every other day. Lastly there is the live-in nanny, which Hotch already mentioned."

"What can you pull up on Molly Conner?" Hotch asked.

Penelope hummed softly to herself as she took up the newest search. "Miss Conner is twenty-three years old, registered with a place called _TLC for Kids_, which is a St. Louis based nanny, sitting and tutoring outfit. She is also going to school at UMSL College of Education, studying Early Childhood Development. It seems she has been taking care of Kacey for the last three years while attending school part-time."

Morgan couldn't help imagine what Emily felt knowing her daughter was being taken care of by a stranger. Which lead to another question, a rather difficult one that he wasn't even sure he wanted an answer to. "Can you find anything about why Donovan has full custody?" he asked, looking to Garcia for an answer. But his eyes darted all around the room as he voiced his next concerns. "I mean, it is odd right? As much as Morris pissed me off earlier, the fact that Emily doesn't even have visitation rights… something's weird there, isn't it?"

The others seemed reluctant to answer the question. And Garcia felt bad digging into her friend's life, but she tried to take comfort in the knowledge that it would eventually help little Kacey. She hoped. Several keystrokes later she had a few records pulled. "Custody awarded to Lucas Donovan five years ago, and a whole lot of legal mumbo-jumbo…" she sighed. "Hmm, it doesn't state a specific reason. Isn't that required?" her curious eyes flicked to Hotch.

"Most custody agreements are public record, unless a judge has specific reason to seal them," the team leader informed her.

Penelope shook her head. "I'm not coming up with anything right away, but I can keep searching." She then typed in something a little different. "Huh, I did just find a whole heap of petitions filed by Emily over the last five years. The most recent one was in August of this year, on Kacey's birthday. It looks like one has been filed every year on her birthday. This one was denied within a week. There wasn't even a court date set. It was just signed off by a judge Fitzpatrick."

Hotch thought something definitely seemed fishy about that. "Anything you can tell us about the judge?"

"Oh, hello!" Garcia chimed. "His name is Harold Fitzpatrick who appears to be married to a woman named Annabel, whose maiden name was Donovan."

"So, the judge is a relative," JJ surmised.

"Um, hmm…" Penelope kept both eyes on her screen. "Yes, he's an uncle to Lucas. And Donovan's custody lawyer was a man named James Donovan."

"Another family member?" Morgan was not impressed, drawing some pretty quick conclusions in his head as to how Donovan and his family had shut Emily out of her daughter's life.

"Yes, a cousin," she confirmed. "And the rest of the Donovan family tree has all kinds of judicial and political branches. There's another uncle, William Donovan, who was District Attorney for several years. Lucas also has two older brothers who both work as prosecutors. Leo Donovan, father of Lucas and the two other sons, was Mayor for one term and ran for a second term five years ago, but lost. Five years is certainly a theme that keeps popping up here," Garcia noted.

Hotch remembered something Emily had once said to him about politics tearing families apart. Those words sat sideways in his stomach, but it wasn't reason enough to start bad-mouthing the whole Donovan clan. And Kacey's life was the most important thing at the moment. He read over the file some more. "Kacey was last seen in blue cotton pajamas with pink polka dots. Molly Conner tucked her in at 8pm last night then went to her room down the hall to study. At midnight she checked in on Kacey before going to bed. At 4am the newspaper delivery service noticed the front door of the house gaping open and contacted police."

"The door was just left open? The front door?" Reid questioned.

"Guy had what he came for, he probably didn't care about locking the door on his way out," Derek guessed.

The clearing of a throat alerted them all to the presence of Director Erin Strauss who was standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest. "I was just informed that you requested information on the Donovan abduction," her eyes focused on Hotch as she spoke.

"We're going to be heading to St. Louis as soon as Dave returns," the Unit Chief calmly replied.

"St. Louis already has a team of agents assigned to this abduction," Strauss replied.

"Prentiss asked us to work this case, so we will be," Hotch firmly stated, remembering how the team had rallied around him when Foyet had taken Haley and Jack. They weren't going to leave Emily's little girl in the hands of complete strangers, no matter how good of agents they might be. Even if Kacey's existence had recently come as a complete surprised to them all, they'd stand by their friend.

Strauss didn't look terribly impressed, but she made no further argument. "Agent Morgan," her eyes bored into Derek. "Can I have a word with you? Please?" The last word sounded more like a demand than a polite request.

The others watched him follow the woman out. "What was that all about?" JJ questioned.

Reid and Hotch exchanged a brief look, both having a pretty good idea what the talk was going to be about. But Hotch refrained from airing his colleague's dirty laundry. "Garcia, Donovan has a lot of employees with probable access to sensitive information about his life. Since time is of the essence here, I'd like you with us at the source." He watched her nod then addressed the others. "As soon as Dave gets to the airstrip I want that plane off the ground, so let's be prepared. Now, if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I need to call Jack and cancel our plans."

xxx

The BAU jet was still sitting idle on the tarmac as Rossi settled into the seat beside JJ. "So, Emily hasn't been arrested?" he asked, trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Across from them were Hotch and Reid. Morgan sat off to the side and Garcia was in the back, her equipment spread out at the smaller table.

"No," it was Derek who responded. "But I think if it was up to Morris she'd probably be on death row by now."

"He's just being thorough," Hotch tried to keep the head-biting to a minimum, though he didn't much care for Morris either. He glanced out the small window to his right and pursed his lips. When his eyes rejoined the group, he glanced over at Rossi. "Did anyone mention a delay when you boarded?"

Dave shook his head. "Nope."

A few minutes later the co-pilot emerged from the cockpit and reopened the main door. Emily entered the cabin shortly after that, hands cuffed in front of her. Morris walked behind her and ushered her toward the bench where Derek was seated. "Director Strauss said we could catch a ride with you," Morris announced as he stuffed a small bag into a nearby compartment and then sat down between Emily and Derek, like a parental chaperone. "Thanks for waiting," he added.

Hotch wasn't amused by the man's callous nature, but he was happy they could finally get going. He was also pleased that Emily was with the team, even if she did have a bodyguard. Within minutes they were cleared for take-off and climbing above the clouds. The team leader eyed Emily, who hadn't made a peep since her arrival. He turned to Morris and nodded toward the cuffs at her wrists. "Are those really necessary?" he asked. "Where's she going to go at thirty thousand feet?"

Morris gave in, grabbed the key and unlocked the cuffs. "Thanks," Emily hissed the word under her breath as she rubbed her sore wrists.

"You didn't spend a very long time searching her property," Derek looked to Morris, his words a challenge.

"No, he didn't, did he?" Emily spoke up again, her courage swelling now that she was free. "Why is that, Agent Morris? Is it because there was nothing at all to find?"

The man's green eyes sliced through her barb. "Do you want to tell them what really prompted this visit of mine, or should I?" Morris asked.

Emily's face instantly paled. She was still upset about how much the man knew about her and her past, but she should have figured Lucas would use whatever he had against her in this, just the same as he had used in his custody battle. "What agent Morris is accusing me of, taking Kacey. I did it," she sighed, glancing around the plane from face to face. Their eyes were a sea of confusion. "Five years ago," Emily added to her previous statement.

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked. His head was spinning again, not wanting to doubt Emily. But her words were making it a little difficult.

"When Lucas filed for custody shortly after Kacey's first birthday, I knew my chances of fighting him and the block wall of his family would be nearly impossible. I was afraid of losing her, so I took Kacey and ran. I had passports with me, plane tickets; everything was scheduled. I was going to flee the country with her, but I didn't because I realized it was wrong. I made a mistake and I went home, but Lucas didn't care that I'd come back. He could only focus on the fact that I'd tried to leave, and in exchange for not filing kidnapping charges against me…"

"He had you sign over all parental rights," Morgan concluded.

She nodded. "That's about it in a nutshell." Emily stood and was halfway toward the back of the jet before Morris called after her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Without turning around, Emily replied, "Am I at least allowed to pee without you following me?" She didn't hear any further words of protest and resumed course toward the restroom at the back of the plane. Only Garcia had seen the tear streaking down her cheek as she'd passed. Emily locked herself in the bathroom stall, sat down on the closed toilet lid and finally let herself break down. But her lament only lasted a moment, because she knew Kacey needed her to be strong. Emily blew her nose, cleaned her face and was mostly compartmentalized again by the time she stepped out of the stall.

Derek was standing there waiting when she emerged. He easily noticed the slight puffiness around her eyes, though she'd done a good job of cleaning up. She'd always been good at veiling her feelings. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Oh, I'm great," she quipped. "Never been better, aside from the fact that I have no one to blame for all of this but myself."

"That's not true," he protested, reaching out to take one of her hands. Derek laced his fingers with hers, hoping to lend a small bit of comfort. "Like you said, you made a mistake back then. You've paid for that mistake. And Kacey being taken is not your fault, none of this is." Morgan wished there was no one else on the jet, because he wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms. But he had to settle for just holding her hand, although even that was against regulations, as Strauss had not-so-delicately reminded him earlier. "Why didn't you ever tell me about Kacey?"

"And I suppose I know everything there is to know about the life of Derek Morgan?" Emily's words were expelled with far more accusation than she'd planned. "I'm sorry," she apologized while gently squeezing his hand. Emily wanted to be even closer to him, but a second later she unclasped their fingers, knowing things were not the same as they'd been the night before, or even just hours ago. "Listen, if you want out, it's okay," she offered.

He was puzzled by her sudden mood shift. "Out?"

"I know it's the kid thing that's been holding you back in this relationship, Derek," she told him. "I've always known that. And I might not get to be a part of Kacey's life until she's an adult and can decide for herself if she wants to see me or not. But I'm never going to stop trying. So, if that's not something you want to be a part of, it's okay." She waited for what seemed like an eternity, hoping for some small response from him, but he didn't say a word. "I should probably get back, or Morris will send a search party."

Morgan watched her go. He wanted to call her back or run after her, but his lips wouldn't move and neither would his feet. Then he felt a sudden, sharp tug at his left arm and tried to blink back his surprise when Garcia pulled him around the corner and down into the seat beside her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she whispered.

"Baby girl…"

"Don't baby girl me," she stopped him. "Those magic charms are not going to work on me for the next few minutes, so shut up and listen. I can forgive you for the fact that I had to find out about you and Emily via eavesdropping just now. But I will not forgive you for breaking her heart, if that is what you intend to do. Although a second ago you looked more like a sack of potatoes than a heartbreaker."

"And Emily thinks you've made me full of myself," he grinned, but the smile faded faster than a setting sun. "The last thing I want to do is hurt Emily, but maybe me walking away is the right thing. Maybe all of this will bring her and Lucas back together and that would be best for Kacey, right?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I really can't forgive this new martyr routine of yours either." Her head shook. "The voice of the woman who was just standing there giving you an out, it was not the voice of a woman who wanted to hook up with her ex. That was the voice of a woman who desperately wanted you to tell her that you'd stand by her through anything; that you'd walk through a burning building with her if need be. What I heard in her voice was a desire to be loved."

A regretful sigh escaped his lips. "Meaning, I'm an idiot," he proclaimed.

"I didn't say that, but it works," Garcia nodded.

His smile returned, though it was a little half-hearted. "What would I do without you, baby girl?"

"My guess is you would probably be spinning hopelessly out of control through the universe," she concluded.

xxx

Kacey sat at the small kitchen table, slowly munching on a grilled cheese sandwich. At first she'd tried not to take any offer of food the woman gave her; the woman whose name she still didn't know. All she would tell Kacey was to call her mommy. And there was no way Kacey planned to do that. Kacey had never met her real mommy, at least not that she could remember, but she knew the woman with the crooked smile was most definitely not her mother. After several hours cooped up in the house, though, Kacey's stomach had started to rumble. She was very hungry, not having eaten since the night before. But, even as hungry as she was, the grilled cheese was only nibbled at. Because fear was taking up too much space in her tummy for food to sit right.

The television in the room just behind them blared loudly. It sounded to Kacey like a car was going to crash right into the kitchen, but when she snuck a glance she noticed that the fancy cars on the screen were just going around and around in circles. It looked boring and was noisy. Kacey didn't like it. But the man had been sitting there starring at it for hours. Upon arrival, Kacey had been introduced to him and instructed to call him daddy. But, where the woman seemed keen on being called mommy, the man didn't look like he cared one way or the other about being called dad. She looked around the kitchen again and her eyes settled on the back door. Her head slowly filled with an idea.

"Can I have some more juice, please?" Kacey asked.

"Of course," the woman replied. She got up, turned her back and went to the refrigerator to fetch the requested item.

Kacey quietly jumped down from her seat and took several slow steps toward the living room. Her plush ladybug friend was firmly held against her chest; a protective shield against the unfamiliar. She finally reached the sofa and stood beside the man, who didn't even seem to notice her. "Do you have a dog?" she asked. "Or a cat? Or maybe some gold fish?" the girl continued to rattle off a list of other animals.

"Doris!" his voice bellowed across the room. "Come and get her!"

The girl shrank back a little. She remembered the woman saying that her 'daddy' would be happy to see her and something about them waiting for her. But Kacey didn't think the man had been waiting for her at all. The woman had lied, but Kacey persisted in her task. "So, do you have a dog?"

He peeled his eyes away from the TV for a second and glared at her. "No, I don't have a dog. No pets of any kind. Just a pesky wife and now a damn kid that I told her I didn't want. So, go on and get away from me!"

"Mel, don't you frighten her like that," the woman sat Kacey's juice down on the table and beckoned the child back into the kitchen. Then Doris moved toward her husband. "What's wrong with you, don't yell at our daughter like that," she told him.

"What is wrong with you? She's not our daughter, Dory," he spat.

"But you said I could try again," the woman sniffed, on the verge of tears.

His eyes narrowed to slits. "Well, don't make me regret it. Because, if you can't train this one right…"

As they continued to argue, Kacey retreated toward the back door. She knew better than to try and open it, because they'd probably hear it make a sound. But the thing that had caught her eye earlier might work. Kacey carefully tucked her ladybug into the waistband of the jeans she'd been given to wear. With the stuffed animal secure, she crouched down in front of the doggie door. She thought it looked kind of small, but she was pretty tiny too. It was the best shot she had and she took it, silently squeezing her way past the plastic flap. It only took a few seconds and she was outside. It was dark and cold, but at least the rain had let up a little. Kacey had no socks or shoes, but she ran as fast as she could; down a few steps, along the side of the house and into the front yard.

A dimly lit street greeted her. Kacey knew if she could quietly make it to a neighbor's house and get inside, she would be safe. They would call the police and Molly or her daddy would come get her right away. She wanted to be home in her own room with all her stuffed animal friends, but her little feet felt air beneath them just seconds into her escape. A rough, strong arm snaked around her stomach and she was only able to release a small cry before a hand clamped over her mouth. "If you can't behave for your _mother_," his voice whispered harshly against her ear. "I'll have to teach you a lesson, like I taught the others."

Kacey frantically glanced around the yard, trying to identify something she could put to memory as he carried her back toward the house.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 3

By N. J. Borba

* * *

As soon as the team landed they split up. Rossi and Garcia headed to the DV Tech headquarters. JJ and Reid set off for the field office so they could coordinate with local authorities and start to sift through tips coming in via the abduction hotline that had been set up. The other four went straight to Lucas Donovan's residence and were greeted by Molly Conner. The girl was a short wisp of a thing, with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. She looked understandably upset, but forced a welcoming smile for them. "I just got a call from Mr. Donovan," Molly informed them. "He landed a few minutes ago and is due home shortly."

"Thank you," Hotch replied. "Miss Conner, I'd like you to take agents Morgan and Prentiss up to Kacey's room so they can have a look around," he instructed. "Agent Morris and I will go talk with the other staff."

Morris shook his head the whole time Hotch spoke. "I'm not leaving her alone with Agent Morgan," he glared at Emily.

Hotch sighed. "They won't be alone; Miss Conner will be with them. And Agent Prentiss isn't going to risk doing anything stupid," he looked to Emily, silently imploring her to heed his warning. His eyes turned to Morris again. "I need my people on this. They're our best chance of finding Kacey right now."

Emily noticed the scowl on the agent's face soften just a little as he gave in to Hotch's request. She and Morgan wasted no time, taking to the stairs behind Molly. Emily entered the pink and white room, grateful to Hotch for getting Morris off her back for a few minutes. From the corner of her eye she saw Derek open closet doors as she walked toward a desk on the opposite side of the room. There was a big box of crayons open on the desk and pictures plastered all over the wall above, with a few lying unfinished on the desk. She smiled to see all the happy-faced animals Kacey had drawn. Then she moved toward a large window that had a built-in bench beneath it.

After a quick glance at the neatly ordered kid's clothes, Morgan joined Emily. The padded seat under the window was blanketed with stuffed animals of all sizes and colors. Derek watched Emily pluck a ladybug from the stack. She held it against her chest and Morgan let her have a moment as he addressed the nanny who was still standing in the doorway. "You didn't hear anything last night?"

Molly shook her head. "After I checked on Kacey last night I fell asleep almost instantly. I was exhausted from studying. There was an exam today in my psychology class, but I was able to get out of it after explaining the situation going on here."

"Where's your room?" Emily asked her.

"Three doors down from this one, on the right," Molly answered.

Derek stared at a picture of a blue dog that Kacey had drawn. "Are you paid well for your job as a nanny?" he continued questioning the woman.

"I live here and get meals. I also make a little bit of money other than room and board. Mr. Donovan has always been quite generous."

"What about tuition?" Emily questioned. "Does Lucas pay your tuition? Or do you have student loans? Maybe the cost was getting to be a little too much and you thought taking Kacey could net you a sizable windfall?" She immediately felt horrible for even suggesting such a thing. Emily detested the fact that she's just treated Molly the way Morris had been treating her. But thoughts of Kacey being with some stranger were plaguing her mind.

"I'd never do that to Mr. Donovan or to Kacey," Molly calmly replied. "I took this job to gain experience, and a bit of extra cash. I honestly never expected to care about Kacey as much as I do. Did you know she beat me at a game of checkers the first time I met her? She was only three at the time," Molly smiled. "She's a smart kid and very funny, also extremely stubborn. Bedtime, baths, brushing her teeth; getting her to do all those things can be a bit of struggle. Kacey loves school, though. She always goes there willingly. Kacey is a sweet little girl, but she's just a little kid. I can't bear to think that someone has her."

Listening to another woman tell her about the girl she'd given birth to was heartbreaking, but Emily could tell Molly had nothing to do with Kacey's disappearance. "She likes animals?" Emily asked.

The nanny's smile returned. "Especially ladybugs," she pointed to the stuffed animal in Emily's arms. "But, you already know that, don't you? You're Kacey's mother. I've seen pictures," she stated. "You sent that one and all the other ladybug things."

"There seems to be one missing, a hand puppet," Emily whispered.

Molly nodded. "The one you sent for her fifth birthday. It's her favorite, and it was the only thing I could tell was missing from her room when the police asked earlier. I mean, aside from Kacey, of course," the young woman held back tears as she spoke. "She never goes anywhere without it, except school, because she doesn't want the other kids to think she's a baby. I'm assuming she has it with her, wherever she is. At least, I hope she does."

Emily stroked the fluffy version of a ladybug in her hand. "She really likes them?"

"_Loves_ would be a better term," the young woman grinned. She maneuvered through the room and pulled a book off the shelving unit beside the window. "The first time we saw this book in the store Kacey really wanted it, but she waited because she was sure you'd send it to her. And you did this last birthday."

Derek stood beside Emily and glanced down at the book. "_Ladybug Girl_, by Jacky Davis and David Soman," he read the title and smiled, his eyes lifting to rest on Emily. "You send her gifts?" Morgan wasn't all that surprised by the fact. He knew losing custody of Kacey must have ripped Emily apart, but he was glad she'd found a way to keep in contact with the girl, even if it was only one-sided. And he could tell that Emily was touched by the fact that Kacey loved the things she'd sent.

"I never thought she'd actually get them," Emily looked to Molly again. "I figured Lucas would intercept them."

"Mr. Donovan is rarely here when the mail comes. Sometimes, when he notices the new items, I tell him we bought them on a shopping trip." Molly walked over to the twin bed and pulled something out from under it. "I've been helping Kacey put this scrapbook together," she handed it to Emily. "We update it every time you send something new."

Inside the scrapbook, Emily found all of the cards she'd sent to Kacey over the years; for birthdays, Christmas and other occasions. "She's read these?"

"I read a lot of them to her when she was younger, but now she can mostly read them by herself," Molly flipped a few pages and pointed to a card that had an underwater scene on the cover. "She really loves this one."

Emily flipped the card open and read the message she'd written there just three months ago. "_Happy sixth birthday, baby. I wish I could be there to help celebrate; to eat cake and open presents with you, but I will be thinking about you and sending all my love. And I'll be remembering the day you were born, because I can still see it like it was just yesterday. You were so pink, and soft and perfect. There was a tuft of golden hair on your head and bright blue eyes looked up at me as if you already knew who I was. And that night, when the nurses and doctor finally left us alone, I nursed you and sang to you. I sang the happy birthday song to you. And I'll be singing it again this year for you. I love you with all my heart. Mommy._"

"She had blonde hair as a baby?" Morgan found that surprising, considering the picture he'd seen of Kacey revealed a head of darker hair like Emily's.

"Yeah, she got that from Lucas," Emily replied.

As if saying his name was a means of conjuring, Lucas Donovan appeared in the doorway of Kacey's room. He was tall and dressed rather casually in khaki pants and a dark blue sweater. His hair was a wave of sandy blonde locks, and Derek knew instantly who Kacey got her aqua-blue eyes from. Morgan suddenly had to wonder what Emily saw in him, compared to this Lucas fellow. "Emily," the man greeted her with just a name.

Emily did likewise. "Lucas."

Some of the tension in the room dissipated when Hotch and Morris stepped into the room just behind Donovan. "Sir, as I'm sure you can imagine, time is of the essence and we need to ask a few questions," Hotch let him know. "Earlier police reports state that your alarm code is 1912, is that significant in any way? Perhaps it corresponds to someone's birth date or a partial bank account number?"

Lucas shook his head. "No, it's completely random."

"Well, whoever did this must have known it, because there's no evidence of the alarm being disabled by cut wires or any other means," Hotch pointed out.

"Only those who work here know the code," Donovan said. "Ms. Turner has been the cook here for almost two years. She was recommended by a woman who'd been with my family for the last twenty-five years. And Mrs. Benet works every other day cleaning. She's been with me for four years now. Other than that, Molly and I are the only ones who know the system code."

Hotch turned his attention to Molly. "Typically, when everyone is inside the house for the night, an alarm is switched to an instant setting so the main siren will go off the second any door or window is breached. And the security company calls your house automatically. Did you forget to set it that way last night?"

It was Lucas who answered the question. "We don't use that setting, mainly because Ms. Turner comes in very early to start breakfast. And also because I work out of town a lot and return at all hours."

Emily's face contorted, unable to believe what she was hearing. "God, Lucas, you provide security so that people around the world can buy designer jeans online without having their credit card information stolen, but you don't think your six-year-old daughter's life is precious enough to warrant that extra measure of protection? Do you even care about her?"

"Of course I do, don't be ridiculous," Lucas replied.

"Yet you've got this Morris guy on my butt so I can't even help find Kacey," Emily shot back.

He stared into her dark eyes. "You have no one to blame but yourself for that. I'm surprised you even showed up here. What do you care about Kacey? You haven't been around for the last five years. You don't even know your own daughter."

"Do you really want to play that game with me, Lucas?" her voice was low, dangerously close to an explosive rage. "I carried her and gave birth to her. I nursed her for eight months. I made her first birthday cake…" Emily took a shaky breath. "Whatever I don't know about Kacey is because you and your family pushed me out of her life. But let me ask you this, Lucas, how much do you really know about Kacey?" she asked. "Can you even tell me what her favorite color is?"

The look on his face revealed that he thought the question was stupid, but he had no intention of backing down from her challenge. His eyes danced around the room for a few seconds before he finally answered. "Pink."

Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'd be willing to bet the pink walls were your interior decorators' idea."

Lucas took another quick look around. "It's red. The ladybugs, right?"

She sighed, shaking her head at his second answer. "No, actually her favorite color is blue."

Molly's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"For one thing," Derek spoke up before Emily. "Nearly two thirds of the clothes in her closet are blue, or have blue in them. And the bed," he waved a hand toward the white quilt and white pillows. Morgan picked up the smallest pillow. "In the center of all the white is a blue heart-shaped pillow."

"And the crayons," Emily reached for the box on Kacey's desk. "Every shade of blue in this box is worn down nearly twice as much as the other colors. You can see that reflected in her drawings," she pointed to the wall. "A blue dog, blue cat, blue bird, blue fish. Even this picture of a house; the grass is green, the sun is yellow and orange, but the house is blue." Emily concluded.

Donovan's jaw twitched. "And all of that is supposed to help find Kacey somehow?"

"Maybe not the fact that she loves blue," Hotch answered. "But figuring out behavioral details about this kidnapper is going to make all the difference in finding Kacey." He tried to get things back on track. "Mr. Donovan, have you received any ransom calls or notes that you haven't told the police about?"

"No, nothing. I thought…" Lucas looked to Emily, his eyes clearly revealing that he'd believed it was her who had taken Kacey. "There should be a call, right? The kidnapper will demand money?"

Hotch kept his features neutral as he delivered the facts. "Mr. Donovan, ransom calls and notes are usually delivered within the first few hours of abduction. A lot of the time they're even left in the spot where the person was taken from."

"But, if this isn't about money…" Lucas shrugged. "Then what?"

"There are three basic reasons children are taken," Morgan began. "Ransom is one. Also, people who can't have children often kidnap them. They want them to be their child, live with them, have them call them mom and dad."

Lucas looked a little relieved. "So, they wouldn't hurt her?"

"If that's the kind of person who took Kacey then, more than likely, no," Hotch answered.

"What about the third reason?" Lucas asked. He glanced around the room, but received only silence in return to his question. "What aren't you telling me?" the man's tone changed, fear dripping from each successive word. "Molestation? Murder?" he guessed.

Some of the bad thoughts Derek had previously entertained about the man evaporated as he listened to the voice of a scared father. They all watched Donovan's stern face melt into a barely contained façade of sorrow. Hotch's cell phone rang and he answered. "Okay, Reid. Morgan and I will look into it, thanks." He hung up. "There's been a tip. Someone claims they might have found Kacey's pajamas in a park across town."

"Just her pajamas?" Lucas asked. "Not Kacey's body, right?"

"Sir, we really won't know anything more until we visit the site," Hotch replied, knowing his words weren't much comfort.

"I'll show you two out," Molly offered.

Derek passed by Emily on his way to the door. He wanted to say something to her before they left, wanted to comfort her and apologize for what had happened between them on the jet. But the timing was all wrong as Hotch motioned for him to hurry up. When Emily tried to follow after them, Morris stopped her with a hand against one shoulder. "You're not going anywhere without me."

With the others gone, Lucas closed the gap between himself and Emily. "Tell me this is all your doing. Please, tell me you have her and that she's safe. I'll give you visitation rights, whatever you want. Just please, tell me it's you who took her and not some monster who will hurt her."

She did her best to hold back tears. "I wish I could tell you that, Lucas. You have no idea how much I wish I could."

Donovan took a deep breath and spun around. "I need to make some calls," he quickly exited the room.

Morris turned his accusing eyes on Emily. "When I first spoke to Mr. Donovan over the phone this morning and he enlightened me about you having taken Kacey five years ago, I decided to dig deeper. I only had a few hours before I flew out to Quantico, but it was pretty easy to find one rather interesting case that you worked on six years ago. It involved a drug dealer by the name of Cory Davis. Do you remember him?"

Emily nodded, doing her best to cooperate. "He was the key suspect in the deaths of three police officers who were killed in a major drug bust. I compiled evidence for that case, but what does that have to do with Kacey's disappearance?"

"You somehow misplaced a very important evidentiary document, which turned out to be why Davis slipped through the FBI's fingers. They had to let him go."

"And I was disciplined for that infraction," Emily was growing tired of his big bad wolf routine. "If you're going to slap me on the hand for every mistake I've made in life we'll be here for a really long time. Personally, I'd rather be out there finding Kacey," she concluded.

The green-eyed agent hardly blinked as she spoke. "I find it interesting that Cory Davis was set free just shortly before you lost custody of Kacey. Did you make some sort of deal with him?" Morris persisted. "Maybe you helped him get away in exchange for some favor in the future, to be determined. Was this the favor; kidnapping your daughter so you could finally follow through with your plan to get her out of the country? Did he help you that first time too?"

Her right hand balled into a fist and struck Morris before she could even consider the consequences of her actions. Emily's clenched fingers connected with his jaw and she couldn't help feeling a little satisfied as she watched him stumble backward. He wiped blood from a split lip and grabbed the cuffs at his side. "You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Kacey Donovan and for assaulting a federal agent," he continued to ramble off her rights as he cuffed her hands behind her back.

xxx

The holding cell in the basement of the St. Louis field office was a place Emily had been before, but never as a criminal. For an hour she'd been starring at the stone walls, her thoughts jumping through time as she tried to figure out how her life had spiraled so far out of control. Now she watched as the cell door rolled open and stopped with a clang. Derek silently stepped inside and then the guard closed and locked the door. From her seat on the cot's thin mattress, she noticed the way he was staring at her. "You look a lot like my mother the day she found out I'd joined the FBI; a combination of shock and disappointment."

"What were you thinking?" he asked.

Emily shrugged. "Obviously, I wasn't thinking," she admitted. "He started in on some ridiculous theory about me being in cahoots with a drug dealer and I lost it."

"Morris told us all about Cory Davis, and Hotch is still up there trying to argue that he's way off track about you. But, don't you think we'd be doing the same thing if we were in his shoes?" Derek posed the difficult question.

"Are you defending Morris?" It was her turn to appear shocked.

His head shook. "I think the guy's an asshole. But, if it was us, we'd overturn every stone; like you asking the nanny about her tuition. You hated that, I know you did. But it needed to be asked." Derek could see in her eyes that she knew it was true. "So, do I even need to tell you how pissed Hotch is right now?" Morgan watched her gaze lower to her lap. "He's going to bat for you, even though it's eating up valuable time in which we should be looking for Kacey." Derek sat on the cot beside her. They both turned so they were facing one another. "We found the pajamas with her initials in them, but not Kacey," he let her know.

"I kind of figured," her voice was practically a whisper. "So, I guess this really isn't about ransom, is it? Someone who takes a child for ransom doesn't want to deal with them this long, and they wouldn't go to the trouble of changing her clothes or appearance. Which means…"

Morgan stopped her, reaching out to rest his hand on her thigh. "Don't go there, Emily."

She gnawed on her lower lip. "How can I _not_ go there, Derek?" A lone tear escaped and trailed down her cheek. Emily brushed it away as her thoughts drifted through life again. "Two weeks before Kacey was born I bought her a blanket. It was white cotton with little red and black ladybugs embroidered all over it. I brought her home from the hospital in that blanket. And I would swaddle her in it almost every day and call her my little bug in a rug," her voice hitched. "She was safe wrapped up in that blanket, and safe in my arms. But for the last five years I've had to wonder about her safety. And now..."

Morgan had seen her take on a lot of roles in their line of work, but seeing her as a worried mother was something he wasn't really prepared for. Unlike on the jet, where he'd been self conscious about someone seeing them, he didn't care now who walked in on them as he embraced her. "We're going to find her," he whispered words of comfort in her ear as her head rested against his shoulder. "I swear we will."

"Alive?" Emily asked.

Derek swallowed a lump in his throat, knowing he couldn't answer that question. "Emily," he slowly broke away from her, though both his hands rested against her forearms. "I'm really sorry about what happened on the jet. For just standing there like an idiot and not answering you."

"It's okay," she replied.

"No, it's not. Why do you keep saying that?" Morgan questioned.

"You can't help feeling the way you do," she shrugged. "And I don't want you to be anything you're not, because I love who you are." Emily knew she'd never come close to telling him she loved him before that moment. "But I do need to tell you that the Derek Morgan I know is great with kids," Emily insisted. "I remember one kid in particular that you helped; a young boy. He was holding a gun in his hands, afraid of the place that was meant to take care of him. But _you_ talked him down. _You_ promised to walk him out of there and find him a safe place to live. _You_ gained his trust. _You_ went above and beyond the call of your job to make sure he was okay."

He instantly knew the boy she was talking about. "Maybe I can relate to the kids we deal with on cases, but that doesn't mean I know how to be a dad. My dad died when I was still pretty young. It's hard to know how to be something without guidance."

"You became a cop and an FBI agent because of your father's influence," she countered. "He's always been guiding you, Derek, even if you can't see it. And as for knowing how to be a parent," she chuckled softly. "I was so scared when Kacey was born," Emily confessed.

"You were?" Derek found that hard to believe, having seen her with kids numerous times. She always seemed so in control when dealing with them.

"Actually, more like petrified," she amended. "I remember one night when Kacey was about three weeks old and she wouldn't stop crying. She cried for hours. And I nursed her, I burped her, changed her, rocked her, and walked up and down the hall a million times. But nothing would calm her, and I felt like the worst mother in the whole world because I didn't have any idea how to comfort my own child."

His heart ached a little for her as she told the story. "When I was a teenager my mom would sometimes watch this baby boy for a friend of hers in the unit down the hall from us. I remember once when the baby was really upset, my mom told me that sometimes babies just cry," Derek said.

"Exactly," Emily nodded. "The point I'm trying to make is that most of the time we work things up in our heads to be worse than they are. Eventually Kacey fell asleep that night, and eventually I learned more about how to care for her. I also learned to accept that I wouldn't always know what to do for her. It's just like anything else, Derek; it takes time and patients. Although in the case of being a parent, it also takes a whole lot of courage."

Morgan's hands gently moved up her arms and clasped behind her neck. "I'm still not so sure about all this kid business," he spoke the truth, leaning forward so their foreheads were pressed together. "But I know I never want to watch you walk away from me again." Their lips sought each other out after that; words fading as emotions were left to traverse a familiar pathway.

JJ found them that way, kissing in the holding cell. She suddenly had a pretty good idea what Strauss had wanted to talk to Morgan about back at Quantico. The guard's key in the lock alerted them to her presence and they pulled apart lingeringly. "The ten o'clock news crew is headed out to Donovan's house," JJ explained as the door rolled open. "I want you and Lucas to make an appeal to the kidnappers."

Emily's brows furrowed. "Morris agreed to let me be there?"

"Reluctantly," JJ nodded. "But Hotch and I explained to him that women are more likely than men to report anything they've seen. And having Kacey's mother on screen is going to trigger their memories and endear them to you, especially if they're mothers too."

"Mother?" a hollow chuckle escaped Emily's lips along with the word. "I haven't been her mother for the last five years."

A supportive smile spread across JJ's face. "That's not true. You've always been her mother, Emily," she assured her friend.

xxx

The man flipped through channels, not paying attention to what was on the television screen until he stopped on a news report and saw a picture of a little girl on the screen. The image soon changed to that of a man and a woman. "_My daughter, Kacey, was last seen at midnight in our St. Louis home. She's been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Kacey is only six years old and is probably frightened. We just want her returned to us. Her mother and I…_"

"Mommy?" Kacey's squeaky-soft voice was filled with trepidation and joy as she watched her father stand beside the woman she'd only ever seen before in pictures. She inched toward the television to get a better look at both her parents.

"What the hell is she doing awake?" Mel spun around to face his wife who was standing behind Kacey. "She should have been asleep hours ago."

"She's been frightened about everything that happened today, Mel. I've been reading to her, but I brought her out to say goodnight to her daddy," Doris explained.

Kacey pointed to the screen. "_That's_ my daddy!"

Mel looked down at the girl for a second and back to the TV. "I can't believe you stole my boss's kid," he looked to his wife. "You're smarter than I thought. Donovan has got money, Doris; lots of money."

"No," the woman shook her head. "You promised I could keep this one. You always promise."

"We could easily get a half million dollars for this girl. Then we can go somewhere else and find another kid."

"I want her," Doris pulled Kacey close, wrapping an arm around her. "She's so much like Katie."

He thought about it for a moment. "Maybe I can figure out a way to get the money and keep the kid." Mel went to the kitchen and opened a drawer. He pulled out a length of rope and rushed back to Kacey. Crouching down, he grabbed hold of her hands and began to wrap the rope around her wrists. He looked up at his wife. "Make sure her bedroom door is locked tonight, and the window too. We can't risk her trying to get away again."

"You're hurting her," Doris watched the girl's tears fall as her hands were bound. "I don't think we should…"

He swiftly got to his feet and backhanded Doris across the cheek without warning. "I told you I would figure out how to keep her. But if you don't cooperate with me, I'll get the money and let her go. So, shut up and do as I say," he demanded. Mel finished tying a knot to secure Kacey's wrists then he shoved her toward his wife. "Now put her to bed," he growled.

"Daddy, mommy…" Kacey whimpered, straining to see their images on the TV as long as possible while Doris led her out of the room.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 4

By N. J. Borba

* * *

"Emily?"

The distant sound of her name slowly roused her, and a spring poking through the thin mattress pressed against her ribcage. The final haze of sleep lifted with a jolt as she remembered everything that had happened the day before. Even during her teenaged career of rebellion Emily had never spent the night in jail. Friday morning had dawned with her curled up in Derek's arms; Saturday had her squinting up at a florescent light fixture and fearing her daughter might be dead. She sat up quickly, but instantly regretted it when her stomach rolled and her head swam. Emily couldn't even recall the last thing she'd had to eat.

"Emily, I really need to talk to you."

She turned to find Lucas standing outside her cell. Memories of their ten o'clock news production came flooding back. He'd been halfway civil to her then. "Has there been any word?" she asked, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. Emily closed her eyes again and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"No one will tell me anything, which is why I asked to see you," Lucas replied. His hands grasped the steel bars of the door. "I spent most of the night pacing around Kacey's room. Then I showed up here nearly three hours ago, but I keep getting pushed from one person to the next. And now I find you… sleeping."

"Right," she drawled, opening her eyes again to the harsh light. "I fell asleep while my daughter is missing, just another thing to add to your list."

"What list?"

"The list of reasons why I'm the bad parent."

He sighed and dropped his hands. "Emily, I'm sorry for the things I said to you yesterday. I spent hours trying to get back home after I found out what happened to Kacey. I was stuck in an airport and Agent Morris contacted me; seeming like the only one who wanted to do something about finding Kacey. I started spouting off the first things that came to mind, but I regret it now. I know you taking Kacey was more my fault than yours, but I could never bring myself to admit that mistake."

"Shit, Lucas," she sucked on her bottom lip and stood to face him. "You're telling me now that I lost out on five years of my daughter's life because you couldn't admit your mistake? I can never forgive you for that."

"And you shouldn't," he agreed. "But I was actually glad when you left with Kacey back then."

Her mouth hung open. "I can't believe you're saying all of this now."

"I thought maybe with you she could escape the iron thumb of my family and have a better life than I did," Lucas revealed. "You know it was them and not me, right?"

Emily's face was set with a combination of anger and vindication. "I know they wanted you to marry Allison Mackenzie; their version of the perfect woman to further your role in their political lives. I know you struggled for independence from their influence, and I know that you lost. You gave in, Lucas. And on some level I can't say I blame you for taking the easier road. I know there've been numerous times when I wanted to give in to my parents and do everything the way they wanted." She moved toward the door. "I guess we were always too much alike, huh?"

"Considering our first date consisted mainly of swapping stories about our meddlesome parents… yeah," he chuckled, but there was very little humor in the laugh. "You were right, Emily. I didn't have a clue what Kacey's favorite color was. There are a lot of things I don't know about her. I did my best to be what my parents wanted; I married Allison and used Kacey to slap on a happy-family façade to our lives. Then my father lost the re-election, and my marriage fell apart. And I could barely look at Kacey, because she reminded me so much of you."

She looked his straight in the eye. "The way you turned on me, and losing Kacey… it broke my heart, Lucas. But if none of that had happened, I never would have joined the BAU. I never would have found a family there. And they're unlike any family I've ever had before. I still want Kacey to be a part of my life, though, and I'll keep fighting you for that."

"When we find her, you won't have to fight me. I swear," he vowed. "Both my parents are gone now and I'm slowly starting to live my own life. I know I can't make up for lost time, but I do know some things about my daughter. I know she's smart and sweet. I know that she's watched every Disney movie nearly a hundred times. She loves peaches and chocolate milk for breakfast. I know she loves animals and really wants a dog or a cat. She asks for one every birthday."

"But you're allergic," Emily remembered.

He nodded. "I know she's afraid of thunderstorms and sometimes climbs into my bed when there's one. I know she loves me, despite how absent I've been in her life. And I know she loves you, despite the way I kept the two of you apart. She loves that ladybug hand puppet you got her and is always carrying it around with her, making it talk and putting on little shows with it."

"You know I gave her that?"

"I may be inattentive, but I'm not stupid. I was there the day you bought that ladybug blanket."

Emily realized in that second that a good chunk of her past was rolled up in memories that they'd shared. But the past was not a place she needed, or wanted, to visit at the moment. Kacey was all she could dwell on. She reached through the bars and held his hands. At one time it had been an intimate gesture between them, now it was only a mother trying to lobby for her daughter's life. "Lucas, you don't believe I took her, do you?"

"No," his head shook.

"Then tell Morris, please," she was not above begging. "Get him off my back so I can help the team find Kacey. You and I really need to be on the same page about this." Before his answer could come, Emily heard footsteps approaching and looked to her left. She saw Derek walking toward them with a guard at his side. He was carrying a canvas bag in one hand and didn't look very pleased. When Emily followed his gaze to where her hands were still resting on Lucas, she immediately let go.

"Mr. Donovan," Morgan addressed the man. "Agent Jareau would like to talk to you about an online article for the _St. Louis Daily_; they want to try reaching a different audience than the newscast last night. Then Hotch wants you present for our meeting in a few minutes. Garcia spent all night going through your company's personnel files and has a few persons of interest sorted out."

Lucas stepped away from the cell door. "Emily, I did talk to Morris this morning. I tried to tell him he was barking up the wrong tree, but he's still not convinced. I'm sorry I started all this," he apologized. "I'll go find Agent Jareau now," he headed off, glad to have something to do.

Derek waited as the guard opened Emily's door. "Hotch wants you at the meeting too, despite the many protests Morris has made."

"No cuffs?" she asked, stepping out of the cell.

A small smile finally lit his face as they took off down the hall. "No, just an escort," he held the bag out to her. "And some clean clothes JJ rounded up for you. I think there's a toothbrush and paste, too." Morgan watched her take the bag. "Are you all right?"

Emily shrugged as they rounded a corner. "My daughter is missing and I couldn't do anything last night except fall asleep, so guilt is tying my stomach up in knots right now. And talking to Lucas was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride. I'm not even sure I know what all right means at the moment," she concluded.

"Sorry, stupid question," he realized.

They turned right then left and the silence between them felt meaningful to her. Emily noticed the five o'clock shadow he was sporting and realized he and the rest of the team probably hadn't slept a wink since landing in St. Louis. But his quiet nature at the moment reflected more than that tiredness. "Hey," Emily took his hand as they climbed a flight of stairs. "What you saw between Lucas and I back there…" she sighed. "There's a lot of history between us, good and bad. Mostly he's been a thorn in my side these last few years, but…"

"You have a child together," Derek noted with a heavy heart. "That's always going to connect you."

"Yes, but what I said about Lucas and I sharing history; that's all it is. History," she insisted. "We gravitated toward one another out of a mutual dislike of politics, having met at a function both of our parents were attending. Lucas and I each spent large chunks of our lives trying to go against our parents, but never quite being able to achieve escape velocity. I was with Lucas mainly because I wanted to be in a relationship at the time, and I wanted a child. The feelings I developed for him were slow in blooming, and for a while I deluded myself into believing it was love. But, what I feel for you makes me realize that I never really loved Lucas."

He felt her squeeze his hand as she spoke the last few words. It was the second time in less than twenty-four hours that she'd all but said she loved him. And though he'd done a pretty good job the night before of climbing out of the idiot hole, certain words were still not finding their way to his lips. Instead, he brought her hand to those lips and kissed her palm. The silence that settled around them after that was contemplative. They finally emerged on the third floor, hands returning to their respective sides in the public eye. He walked her to the private locker room for bureau employees.

"I get to pee by myself again?" Emily tried to sound chipper.

"Mostly," Morgan nodded as a female agent approached them. She was dark-skinned with closely cropped hair, sleek gray pants suit and a badge clipped to a lanyard hanging around her neck. "Agent Masters will stand guard outside while you change," he let her know.

"Hi, Carla," Emily greeted the woman.

"Hey, Emily. Sorry about all this," Masters apologized.

Derek kept forgetting that they were treading on Emily's former stomping ground. He imagined she probably knew half or more of the agents in the St. Louis field office. And it was probably hell on her having to face them as a suspected criminal, especially for the crime of kidnapping her own daughter. He reached out and gently squeezed her left shoulder. It was about as intimate as they could get at the moment. "I'll find you something to eat and meet you in the conference room," Derek let her know before turning to leave.

xxx

Since Morris hadn't let her pack anything, Emily was grateful for the change of clothes. The new attire of black jeans and a crimson sweater were both a little snug, but at least they were clean. Having a former co-worker escort her all the way to a seat in the conference room was more than a little embarrassing, but at least she didn't have to be cuffed in front of the team again. Morris was standing in the far corner of the room, though, just behind Hotch. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was watching her like a hawk. The small red mark on his upper lip was barely noticeable, but a definite reminded to her that she'd lost her composure at one of the worst possible times. The only light in the darkness was Derek, who sat down beside her and slid a bottle of water over to her along with a package of peanut butter crackers.

"All righty…" Garcia began. "I spent most of the night getting intimate with a pot of very black coffee and my keyboard. I still only managed to work my way through the letter 'R' in the DV Tech employee roster. But, out of those first 102 employees I have found a whole bevy of interesting information. For instance, there is a woman named Dana Armstrong…"

"She's one of my accountants," Lucas stated.

Garcia nodded. "Yes, she's an extremely productive worker and doesn't appear to be embezzling any funds from the company, but her home life is crumbling all around her. Dana's husband has accrued a gambling debt of 50,000 dollars in the last two years and her teen-aged son, Jordan, has been arrested three times this past year for drug possession."

Lucas sighed. "I had no idea. But I don't see Dana doing anything like this," he looked to Hotch. "And you said this might not be about money at all."

"Right now this process is about finding people who have recently suffered a loss or something that would cause them to change their normal pattern of behavior," Hotch relayed. "It's what we call a stressor."

Penelope pulled up the next name. "I have a young man by the name of William Givens whose wife recently suffered a miscarriage."

"Exactly the kind of stressor that could lead to them taking a child," Rossi noted.

"William and Tammy? No," Lucas shook his head. "I hired William last year, straight out of college. He and his wife married young, but they are two of the nicest people you could ever meet."

Hotch refrained from stating that even nice people had breaking points. "What else, Garcia?" he pushed her forward.

"Natalie Hu is…" the analyst paused as an alarm on her laptop sounded.

Everyone was curious about the beeping, but Reid was the first to inquire. "What was that?"

Garcia didn't answer for a second as she cut the sound off. "I've been monitoring all DV Tech email traffic, looking for anything suspicious. This one was just sent to Donovan's email, the one listed on their website. Look at this," she turned her laptop slightly so Hotch, Rossi and Morris were all within reading distance.

"_I have Kacey. I want 500,000 cash by 2pm today. Will email again with more details,_" Hotch read aloud. "Can you track the email?"

"The address used is ihavekaceydonovan at yahoo dot com; obviously an account that was just set up. Yahoo accounts are a free service; you don't even have to use a real name or birth date, which means there's really no way to trace who set it up," Penelope regretfully informed them. "Only thing I can do is search for an IP address and this one originated from…" her fingers moved in rapid succession over the keys. "It's a network at the public library branch on Olive Street."

"He's probably gone by now," JJ guessed.

"Libraries usually have sign in sheets for use of computer time," Reid noted.

Hotch pointed a finger at the young man. "Call them and see if you can get a list."

"He did say he'd email back, we can post plain clothed agents at all public library locations," Morgan suggested.

"Make that happen," Hotch directed his order at Morris. The St. Louis agent didn't seem thrilled about leaving Emily, but ducked out of the room to implement the plan.

Rossi's forehead rippled in thought. "The guy used a library this time, but he's probably got a backup plan for the next time."

Hotch had already been thinking the same thing, but he was glad to get Morris off their back for a few minutes. "We need a different plan, too. Garcia, I want you to send a message back using Donovan's email. Tell this guy we need proof Kacey is alive; we want to talk to her. Give him Donovan's cell number. He should feel safer calling that than our hotline, thinking he's dealing directly with Donovan."

"I'm on it," the woman set to typing.

Reid ended his call. "The librarian I spoke with said only three people signed up for computer time since they opened at 9am this morning." He read from his notepad. "The first was Lily Carter at 9:09, then Leo Matthews at 9:17 and Elmo Hert at 9:25."

Garcia finished her email task and pushed the send button. "Okay, email to Mr. Kidnapper is away. Read those names to me again, Lily…"

"Carter," Spencer walked her through them.

Several minutes later she sat back. "Carter is a single mom with two boys, ages six and seven. She works as a waitress at a local greasy spoon and has two recent arrests for solicitation. Leo Matthews is a seventy-five year old retired army vet, drawing social security and boarding at an assisted living facility. Elmo Hert doesn't appear to exist. I've got no DMV records or social security number. Either he's a ghost or it's a made up name."

"Guy's not stupid," Morgan noted. He hated a smart criminal, but Derek also knew that sooner or later they always screwed up. And he planned to be there when this guy slipped up.

"But there's always some truth in a lie," Emily spoke up for the first time since arriving in the conference room. "Odds are that at least some part of that name is real," she suggested.

Hotch looked to Garcia. "Run it in every way, shape and form you can," he ordered.

"You got it, bossola," she chirped.

"What exactly is going on here?" Lucas finally asked, looking around. "Yesterday you all told me that it was unlikely there'd be a ransom demand at this late of a juncture. Now he's asking for half a million dollars? I can get the money. That's not a problem. I can get you three times that if it means bringing Kacey home, but I'm a little confused."

"That's the main reason why Hotch is asking for proof that this is the person who actually has Kacey," Rossi explained. "It could just be someone who saw the news and is trying to cash in."

Lucas was not pleased by that answer. "So, what do we do?"

"We wait for the guy to call us, and plow through the other people on Garcia's list," Emily supplied, though she knew it would be a lot less simple than that. Waiting was always the hardest part of any case. Waiting while it was your child in danger; she knew that was going to pretty much be agony.

xxx

The conference room doors yawned open in an attempt to air out the space, which smelled of stale coffee and sweat. And the tension in the air was so thick you could practically taste it. A bank of windows on the inside wall revealed business as usual in the open office area. The windows along the outside wall showed rain coming down in hefty drops; a storm brewing. Morris was back, and silent. Lucas paced. Hotch and Rossi were huddled in a whispered conversation. JJ was off finalizing yet another press release. Reid fiddled with his geographical profile map, which he'd filled with the locations of several people from Garcia's list, as well as the library.

Penelope's keyboard sounded like a drum in the mostly quiet room as she continued to track anything on the name Elmo Hert. Morgan's only job at the moment seemed to be keeping Emily company. His left hand rested reassuringly on her knee beneath the table. Emily's worry was almost tangible, and she'd barely touched her water or crackers in an hours' time. They all jumped out of the routine they'd fallen into when Donovan's cell phone rang. Garcia already had it secured in the middle of the table, ready to run the trace. Hotch motioned the man over and silently instructed him to answer the call.

"This is Lucas Donovan," he stated his name, waiting for a response.

"_I have Kacey_," a deep male voice replied.

Hotch wrote something down on a sheet of paper and slid it toward Donovan. "Please, let me speak to my daughter," Lucas read the prompt.

"_She's fine_," the man replied. "_She's alive_."

"I need to speak to her. I need to hear her voice for myself before I make any sort of deal," again Lucas mostly used the words Hotch was supplying on paper.

Silence filled the line for almost a minute before anyone spoke again. "_Hello?_" Kacey's soft, hesitant voice filled the line.

Emily brought a hand to her mouth and bit back tears as she sat and listened to her daughter's voice for the first time since the girl was a year old. Then her only words had been mama and daddy, spoken in a squeaky baby voice. She heard the years fly by as Lucas spoke to the child. "Kacey, sweetheart, are you okay?" His words now were not prompted at all.

"_Daddy?_" the child's hesitance ended as she spoke rapidly. "_I'm scared, daddy. I don't wanna be here. I crawled through the doggie door, but the bad man caught me. I saw you and mommy on the news. Will you come get me now, please? Daddy, please._" There was a momentary pause and then they heard her again. "_No! Daddy!_" her screams faded then ended completely.

It took all the restraint Emily had not to call out to the girl, but she knew the kidnappers could only hear Lucas if they wanted to downplay the FBI's involvement in the transaction. The man's voice returned. "_500,000 cash by 2pm today. I'll call again with location details._" The line went dead after that.

"Garcia, tell me you got enough for a trace," Hotch urged.

"It was a payphone," she replied.

"Not many of those left in the city," Morris spoke up, finally showing some small interest in the possibility that it was someone beside Emily who'd taken the child.

"This one is outside of a gas station on Goodfellow Boulevard," Garcia stated.

Morris nodded. "From Olive to Goodfellow, I'd say he cruised right up I-70. I'll call in the nearest unit."

Hotch faced Donovan. "I suggest you round that money up quickly. I don't have any intention of paying this man off, but we do need to make our intentions look good." He glanced around the room. "Dave and Morgan, you're with me," he instructed.

xxx

The pay phone was bolted to a brick wall about twenty feet from the main entrance to a mini-mart, which sat separated from the gas pumps. In just the few minutes since they'd arrived, nearly six cars had come and gone, kicking up a constant spray with their tires against the wet pavement. Thankfully it was only drizzling on them as the huddled outside. "Someone had to have seen him, or at least heard Kacey. She was screaming pretty loud," Derek needlessly reminded the two men with him.

"I'll go talk to the clerk inside," Dave announced.

Hotch and Morgan remained behind, searching the area for fingerprint smudges, cigarette butts, candy wrappers or footprints; anything of potential use. "How is Emily holding up?" the team leader inquired.

Derek shrugged. "I don't really know. You'd understand a lot better than me what it feels like when your child goes missing."

A pained sigh escaped Hotch's mouth; sorry that anyone had to experience such a horrible feeling. He was hesitant about his next question, but it seemed important to the team's future. "I imagine Strauss didn't call you away yesterday so she could congratulate you and Emily on your relationship."

"Nope," Morgan shook his head. "She said we were both going to be put under review for misconduct. Then I told her that if she wanted my badge she could have it just as soon as I returned from finding Kacey."

The team leader couldn't outright condone any fraternization between team members, but he would have had to be blind not to see the growing relationship between Derek and Emily. He was secretly happy for both of them. There wasn't much else to be said on the matter, though, as they spotted Dave returning. "The clerk said he did notice a man out here earlier, but no girl. Claims he didn't hear any screaming either, and apparently their security cameras are busted."

Morgan walked over to a trash bin a few feet away. He spotted something inside and deftly plucked it out with his gloved hands. "I don't think Kacey was ever here with our UnSub," he held the mangled cell phone up for them to see."

Dave arched his brows, intrigued by the possibility the cell phone presented. "He calls us using the pay phone, but Kacey's not with him. So, he used the cell phone to call Kacey. This guy is obviously thinking. And a calculating UnSub suggests the possibility that he's done this before, which makes him even more dangerous."

Hotch nodded. "There's something else we need to consider. If he called on the cell phone to contact Kacey, she wouldn't just answer on her own. Most likely she's locked up somewhere, meaning someone else had to be there to answer that cell phone call."

"We're not dealing with just one UnSub," Derek concluded.

xxx

Hotch, Rossi and Morgan had barely stepped foot inside the conference room when Garcia bombarded them. "You're just in time, gentlemen. I've been analyzing the call we got from the UnSub. Kacey was actually shouting something very specific at the end of that call. I enhanced the audio, listen."

Emily's stomach clenched as she heard the girl screaming for her daddy again. She could tell by the look on Lucas' face that it was affecting him just as badly. Seconds later the audio degraded a little, but Kacey's voice was clearly repeating a series of number. "_41592… 41592…_"

"Maybe it's part of a phone number she overheard?" Morgan guessed.

Reid instantly shot down that idea. "She's pretty specific about repeating the five together. Kacey's a smart kid. It seems more likely she'd remember the first three digits of a phone number or the last four, or even all seven. Five suggests something else all together. And just hearing a series of numbers is usually not as memorable as seeing them. Kacey mentioned having crawled through a doggie door, which means it's likely she's being held at a house. If she was outside for even a few seconds she could have seen those five numbers."

"It's an address," Emily grinned, immensely proud of the daughter she barely knew.

"Garcia, cross those numbers with your personnel files," Hotch ordered.

"Already on it…" It was several minutes before she looked up again. "I've got one. 41592 Park Lane. It's a house owned by Mel Toher."

It didn't take Reid long to latch on to the name. "Guys, take a look at this," he quickly used a dry erase marker and wrote the name Mel Toher on the white board. Then he printed Elmo Hert just below it. He pointed to each letter in the first name while marking off the corresponding letter in the second. "It's an anagram." Spencer caught Emily's eye. "Always some truth in a lie."

"What can you tell us about this guy?" Hotch knew they needed as much information as possible before going after the man.

"He's a security guard at DV Tech. Actually he works for Riverview Security and they contract directly with DV Tech. Anyhow, he's been associated with both companies for the last three years. Before that he lived and worked in Springfield, Illinois for a few years. Has a wife, Doris Toher and… oh, dear," Garcia's breath hitched. "They had one daughter named Katherine. The girl died three years ago at the age of six. Apparently she fell out of a tree in their backyard and broke her neck."

"Was that investigated?" Rossi asked.

Penelope nodded. "Yes and the finding was accidental death. Apparently the mother had been home with her while Mel Toher was at work."

"He must have felt guilty about not being there for his daughter," Emily said, understanding that feeling all too well.

Morgan's hand rested against Emily's back as he stood behind her chair, not caring much if his actions were obvious. "What about Doris Toher?" Derek fished for further information before drawing any conclusions. "Does she work?"

Garcia sighed. "Yeah, but you're not going to like what she does. She's a monitor at the same home security company that provides protection for Donovan's house."

Emily felt her stomach churn yet again; almost certain that Mel and Doris Toher were the people that had Kacey. She sought out Lucas, but flushed with worry when he was nowhere to be seen. "Where did Lucas go?" she asked no one in particular. Heads all turned in a searching manner, but no one had an answer for her. Emily noticed his cell phone was missing from the table. "Was he here when Garcia read off that address?"

"I think so," JJ nodded grimly.

"Let's go," Hotch ordered. He eyed JJ on his way out the door. "You and Garcia stay put and see if you can contact Donovan."

As everyone flooded out of the conference room, Emily was right on their heels. But she felt a familiar hand clamp down on her shoulder and instantly saw that Morris was standing there beside her. "You have got to be kidding me." She sighed as he promptly directed her toward a desk in the far corner of the open office. "You don't really still think this has anything to do with me, do you?" her anger was bubbling over again, but she tried to stay calm. "Lucas is about to do something really stupid if we don't get there first."

"I know," Morris replied as he unlocked and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. A second later he handed Emily her badge and gun, which he'd taken from her in Quantico. "I thought you might need these if you'll be joining us."

* * *

**To be continued…**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 5

By N. J. Borba

* * *

She stood with her back pressed against the exterior wall of the house. A kevlar vest sandwiched her torso and the sleeves of her windbreaker billowed in the late morning breeze. It was only sprinkling out, but water droplets hit her neck beneath the pony tail holding the hair off her shoulders. They rolled down, seeping into the heavy knit cotton of her sweater. She glanced over to see Derek right beside her, his eyes alert and scanning, weapon drawn. He pointed to the door where they could both see the plastic doggie flap at the bottom. As Emily inspected the partially opened door, Kacey's voice echoed in her head; especially the part where the girl had said she'd seen her mommy on the news. Being referred to as mommy was about the only thing keeping Emily upright at the moment.

They heard Hotch's voice through their ear pieces. "_We've got a visual on a woman through the living room window. She's on the ground, possibly unconscious. No sign of Donovan from this vantage point. No sign of Mel Toher or Kacey, either._"

"_Morris and I found Donovan's car in the back alley, no other vehicles in the garage or driveway_," Rossi reported.

"Back door is hanging open a few inches," Morgan relayed from their position. "We can't see inside, but I say we do this now," he advised.

"_Affirmative_," Hotch gave the final order.

Derek leapt onto the small back porch and was pushing through the door in a matter of seconds. "FBI!" he shouted, keeping his weapon up but being guarded in his movements, the fear of Kacey stepping into his line of sight. Unfortunately, the first image that greeted him caused the hairs on his arms to stand on end. "Shit," he swore under his breath, knowing Emily was right behind him.

Emily entered the house behind Morgan and was hopeful for a split second before she heard him swear. Her eyes hit the white linoleum floor, scanned along the toe-kick of maple kitchen cabinets and stopped when she spotted a shoe. A chorus of the word: clear, echoed throughout the house as Emily sunk to the floor beside the body, her knees landing in a pool of blood. "Lucas?" She holstered her gun and reached for his neck, searching for a pulse as Derek called the paramedics in.

Donovan's eyes opened a sliver. "She was begging me to come get her," he croaked.

A quick scan of his body revealed the gaping wound in his abdomen. "I know, Lucas. I know," Emily bit the inside of her cheek. "You're going to be okay."

"You'll take care of her," Lucas rasped.

Her head shook, denial creeping in even as he obviously seemed to know where everything was headed. "No," Emily bit off the response. She'd wanted custody of her daughter for years, but not like this.

"It's in my Will," his words came slower. "If my family tries to contest it…" Lucas coughed up blood. "Fight them, Emily," he gasped for each breath. "You were always better at fighting than me."

She watched the light drain from his eyes as his face contorted. "Lucas?" Emily took one of his hands.

"I wanted to be a better father…" his voice was barely audible. "Than mine," he finished.

The past faded away with his last breath. All the pain he'd caused her seemed to evaporate. "You were," Emily whispered. She leaned over him, her lips gently brushing his forehead; a fonder farewell than she ever could have imagined bestowing on the man who'd broken her heart and stolen her daughter.

Paramedics finally entered into the house, but Derek silently shook his head and pointed toward the living room where the woman had been found. "We searched the whole place, but Kacey's not here," Rossi's voice floated over to them as he stood just inside the kitchen with Hotch, Reid and Morris bunched up beside him. They could all see that Donovan was gone, but their search for Kacey couldn't stop, or even pause for a second. "There's a room with a pink comforter on the bed, some drawing paper and a box of crayons, a few kids clothes in the dresser," he noted.

"Doris Toher has a pretty nasty bump on the back of her head, but she'll likely come to. Hopefully she'll have some answers for us," Reid offered.

"I've already got Garcia running a check on Mel Toher's vehicle so we can get an APB out on it," Hotch added.

Derek knew Emily had probably barely comprehended their words as he squatted down beside her, gently removing her hand from Lucas. Earlier that morning the green envy-monster had struck when he'd seen her holding the man's hands. Now he could only feel sorry for Lucas Donovan, but more so for the little girl who'd just lost her father. He helped Emily up and watched her face pale. A second later she was headed toward the back door. Morgan stayed with her, following her outside and hoping that the fresher air might help. What he witnessed was her throwing up the small bit of food she'd managed to choke down earlier. He'd seen her deal with a lot and not even bat an eye, but with Lucas dead and Kacey still missing, he couldn't even imagine what she was trying to cope with.

Morgan knelt down beside her again, a hand against her back. "Making yourself sick over this isn't going to help Kacey. You need to stay focused."

"Toher isn't going to try getting his ransom now," she said, head still lowered. "He's going to clean up his mess, meaning Kacey might already be dead."

"Emily," Derek honestly didn't know what to say. No words could sooth what she was going through. There were unshed tears in her eyes and her voice sounded distant; detached. She was already retreating to protect herself. Morgan knew if he didn't break through soon, she'd be lost. He drew her up close, wiping her mouth the best he could with the slippery surface of his windbreaker sleeve. She fought him for a moment, trying to pull away, but he was persistent.

She still wouldn't give in to the tears, but eventually laid her head against his shoulder. "I always knew Lucas and I were going to fall apart," Emily whispered in his ear. "And I knew Kacey would need to be strong because of that. I just never expected it all to end like this…"

"Kacey _is_ strong, Emily. And this is not over yet," he assured her, still holding on tight even as police officers milled around the exterior of the house. "She crawled her way through a doggie door to try and escape. And she was brave enough to shout those numbers through the phone. She's a fighter, just like her mom," Derek told her as they separated. He looked her in the eye. "I think if Kacey has anything to say about all of this, we _will_ find her… alive."

Emily took a long, shaky breath and let herself buy into his version of hope for the moment. "But even if we do, I have to tell her that Lucas is dead; that her daddy is gone. Maybe he wasn't the greatest father in the world, but he was the only one she had."

Derek nodded, sighing as he helped her up. Again he had no useful words for her. They turned and found Morris standing there at the back of the house with them. He held a bottle of water out to Emily. "I got this from the paramedics, thought you might need it," the man offered. "Agents Hotchner and Rossi are in with Doris Toher. She's awake and they're about to question her. They'd like you to be there, when you're ready." He pulled out his cell phone and walked off toward the alley where Donovan's car was.

She shook her head, not sure what to make of Morris. Emily opened the water, took a large swig and swished it around in her mouth before spitting it out on the lawn. "He's probably just trying to make amends for screwing up," Derek offered, trying to explain Morris' suddenly friendly behavior. "Or he's trying to cover up the fact that he really screwed up by pointing the blame at you."

"I don't have time for him," Emily said dismissively, drinking down some of the cool water as they walked around to the front of the house. She didn't say it in words, but it was clear she didn't want to go in the back door and have to see Lucas again.

They entered through the main door and emerged into the living room. Emily instantly noted that the space was very clean and tidy. It was a fairly small house, but there was nice furniture and walls decorated with fine artwork. She noticed several framed pictures of a young girl with flowing blond hair and sparkling green eyes. Emily imagined she was the child the Toher's had lost, but those images didn't match the woman she found strapped to a stretcher; her head bandaged. Doris Toher was dark haired with gray-blue eyes, more like Kacey. She was conscious and alert, but Emily could see a serious degree of detachment behind the woman's eyes as Hotch began to question her. The woman didn't appear mentally stable.

"Mrs. Toher, can you tell us what happened here?" Hotch began. "How did Lucas Donovan get hurt? And where are Kacey and your husband?"

The woman looked reluctant to speak, but finally squeezed out a few unhelpful words. "We waited a very long time for our daughter. Her daddy and I were really looking forward to being a family with her."

Emily's concern about her mental state seemed justified by those words. She extracted the picture she'd been carrying with her, one she'd taken from Kacey's bedroom the night before; a candid shot of Kacey blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. "Ma'am, your husband kidnapped Kacey," she showed her the picture. "She's _my_ daughter, not yours, and her daddy just died in your kitchen. What do you know about all of this? Is your husband the one who injured your head?"

"It wasn't him," Doris replied. "Mel didn't want children. He said I could try again if I got her by myself and kept her out of his hair," she blurted out, seeming more coherent, but still not making much sense.

"What does that mean?" Hotch pushed.

Doris sighed, seeming exasperated. "I found the girl and I turned off the alarm system at her house so I could get to her."

Morgan knew people liked to pretend they were perfectly safe behind a home security alarm, but he realized that they were only as safe as the people hired to monitor those systems. "You took Kacey by yourself? Your husband had nothing to do with it?" he found that hard to believe.

"Yes, I did all of it," she insisted. "But last night Mel told me he was going to get money for her, because Donovan was rich. And because he said she wasn't minding me. None of them ever do, according to Mel. Katie didn't listen to me, either. I told her not to climb that tree, over and over I told her. But she fell," a tear worked its way down alongside the woman's croaked nose.

"And your husband blamed you for that accident," Emily guessed.

"She didn't listen, and the others didn't listen. They all had to be punished for not minding me," Doris' eyes aimlessly roamed the room as she spoke.

"Others?" Hotch questioned the term. Everyone in the room was shocked by the implication that there might have been other children taken and, very likely, killed by the Toher's. But the team leader tried to refocus on Kacey, specifically. "Where does he take them when they need to be punished? Where would he take Kacey?"

Doris shrugged. "I don't know. He doesn't tell me. They're here one day and then I never see them again," she concluded.

Emily was about to shove Kacey's picture in the woman's face again when Reid entered the room. "I just talked to Garcia. She already got a hit on Toher's truck, a 2008 Chevy Silverado pickup, dark green. The license plate number matches a truck found in a grocery store parking lot about five blocks from here. Police are at the scene, currently asking all patrons to search the lot for their cars so they can determine if any were stolen."

"He's running, and trying to cover his tracks," Rossi stated.

They all nodded. "Garcia also said Mel Toher has a current hunting license and two weapons registered to him, a nine millimeter pistol and a shotgun," Reid added.

"Nine millimeter is probably what he hit Donovan with. You searched the house, right?" Derek questioned Hotch.

The older man nodded. "No weapons were recovered. If he's a hunter, he probably takes the children to a secluded area."

"Mark Twain National Forrest is about a two and half hour drive from here," Morgan recalled the distance from when they'd worked the Mill Creek killer case a few years back. "I'll contact JJ, have her arrange road blocks along the main route."

"Good idea, but if he hunts this area then odds are he knows all the back roads and short cuts," Dave noted. "We can't cover all of that territory. Plus he's in a vehicle we don't know and he's got a decent lead on us, twenty minutes or so could put him just about anywhere by now."

Tired of listening to the possibilities, Emily confronted Doris again. "Where does your husband go hunting? Where did he take my daughter?" she attempted to appeal to the woman as a mother. "She's only six years old, are you just going to sit by and allow her to die too, like all the others? You couldn't save Katie, what happened to her was an accident. You can't change that outcome now, but you can help us save Kacey. Please," she begged.

"Sutten Bluff campground. It's in the Mark Twain Forest like he guessed," Doris said, eyeing Morgan. "He's mentioned that place. That's all I know."

xxx

They arrived at the campground nearly three hours later and a tall, silver-haired man approached them. "Gordon Clay, Reynolds County Sheriff," he introduced himself with a nod all around, not bothering with handshakes as time was of the essence. "We've got a K-9 unit chomping at the bit. Agent Morris contacted us and said you all would have something of the girl's to track."

Emily stepped forward and handed him the stuffed ladybug that Kacey's nanny, Molly, had gotten for them. "We heard you found a vehicle?" she inquired. No one at the St. Louis grocery store had reported a stolen car, which had led them to believe Toher had been prepared with a back-up vehicle.

The sheriff pointed to a black Jeep that was parked several yards away. "It's rare we get campers up here this time of year. We didn't find much inside, though, except this note stuck beneath the seat," he passed Emily a slip of paper.

"Lulu wants go home," she read the scribbled words.

"What does that mean?" Derek frowned. "He's got some other girl with him as well?"

Emily glanced down at the words again and she almost smiled. "This is Kacey," she told them. "It's written in blue crayon, and Lulu is the name of the main character in the Ladybug Girl book I sent her. This has got to be Kacey."

"A six year old is leaving us breadcrumbs?" Clay was impressed. He waved one of his deputies over. "Kyle here has two-way radios for you all. This far out, the likelihood of your FBI channels or cell phones working is pretty slim. We also have packs with water, maps and flashlights. Sunset this time of year is just before 5pm. That gives us under three hours of daylight, maybe even less with the tree canopy. There's mostly oak and pine in this section of forest. Some areas can get pretty thick, so watch your step," he warned. "Also, another storm is moving in, so we're racing the sun and thunder heads. If the storm hits hard we call off the search."

With Clay's briefing over, the team split off. Hotch and Reid headed north, close on the heels of the canine unit. Rossi went south with a few of Clay's deputies. Morgan and Emily stuck together as they headed west. Derek was happy that agent Morris had gotten stuck up in St. Louis dealing with Doris Toher. The kidnapping charge against Emily would have to be dropped in light of what had happened recently, but they both figured Morris would try to make the assault charge stick. They were glad to have him off their backs for a while. But, despite that hassle off their shoulders, silence reigned between them for over two hours as they walked through the woods, checking in via radio every fifteen minutes.

"Some days, I wish I had no one in my life to care about," Emily suddenly announced. "Then I could do this job a lot easier."

Derek glanced over, watching as she ran both hands along the sleeves of her jacket in an attempt to infuse a bit of warmth. It wasn't raining, but the clouds above looked about ready to burst. And daylight was being sucked up faster than anticipated. "You really believe that would work?" he asked, shaking his head. "I don't, because there'll always be victims and we'll always care about them. We couldn't do this job if we didn't care, Emily," he pointed out.

"Maybe not," she admitted.

Morgan was worried about her state of mind. He was also worried about the impact of her theory on their relationship. Derek couldn't help feeling like she was slowly trying to pull away from him, but he attempted to burry those feelings and moved the conversation toward a subject that had him curious. "How come you never asked your parents for help in all of this custody business?"

She kept her eyes to the ground as they traversed the forest floor, sidestepping tree roots and bogs of sticky, wet leaves and pine needles. "Is your mother proud of you, Derek?" Emily finally asked.

Her questioned seemed to divert from the topic, but his answer came quickly and easy. "Yeah, she is," Derek relayed. "Well, she wasn't too thrilled when I told her I wanted to be a cop like my dad, or when I moved away to join the BAU. But she's supported me the whole way. She's proud of how I live my life."

Emily wished she could say the same. "My parents tolerate what I do, but they've never been particularly proud of the fact that I decided to join the FBI. Growing up, they never told me just to do my best and that they'd love me no matter what. They told me to do everything right, or don't bother. For a while I lived with that, striving to be a good daughter that they could be proud of. But they never seemed proud; every accomplishment was just a jumping off point to do bigger and better things. Nothing ever seemed good enough in their eyes."

"That must have been difficult," Derek sighed. He'd often imagined that her life had been pretty good, privileged to do whatever she wanted. But he was finally starting to see a very different side to all of it.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It rolled into some pretty hairy teen years," Emily realized that as close as she felt they'd gotten recently, there was still a lot she'd never revealed to him about her past. "At first it was just small stuff, sneaking out of the house and smoking. Then there was a bit of drinking and some things that were much more dangerous than cigarettes," Emily skirted around saying exactly what those things had been. "I finally hit bottom at the ripe old age of fifteen," she continued.

Derek felt his stomach clench. "You don't have to tell me any of this, Em," he let her know in a supportive tone.

"I got pregnant and had an abortion," the words came rather easy. She figured there was something about having your whole life tipped on its end that made past events rather insignificant. "I couldn't tell my parents. It would have destroyed them, because it damn near destroyed me," Emily sucked in a breath. "I finally realized I was trying to please everyone but myself, trying to please my parents and my friends. But after that I decided I wanted to live my own life, I wanted to make myself proud. Being a part of the FBI, helping people and righting wrongs, that makes me very proud."

His heart was still nestled somewhere in his throat after listening to everything she'd said. Derek's thoughts were conflicted, but there was one thing he wanted her to know at the moment. "I'm glad you found your way out, I really am," he insisted.

A contemplative smile sat on her lips, hoping she hadn't completely destroyed whatever chance they had left of holding on to their relationship. "It went pretty well, until I met Lucas. I found myself trying to please him and his family, trying to fit in where I knew I'd never be welcome. It was just like being a teenager again. And when it all blew up, I didn't ask for my parent's help because I wanted to do it on my own. I was done trying to make them proud, or even myself. There was only one person left who I wanted to make proud."

"Kacey," Derek easily guessed. A lot became clear to him in that instant; mainly, the reason why she took so much time and care when dealing with cases that dealt with children. She'd been doing it all for her little girl. He couldn't help admire the hell out of her for that. But a whirl of other thoughts still plagued his mind. "What you said about Lucas earlier today, how you always believed things between the two of you were going to fall apart…" he paused a second. "Is that how you see us, too? Have you just been waiting for us to fall apart?"

A sigh escaped her lungs. "I've tried not to, but it seems like there are a lot of things stacked against us. Strauss could dismantle both our careers in the FBI. And now that you know about Kacey… and Lucas' death…" she took a quick breath. "If it's true what Lucas told me about gaining custody according to his Will, then I plan to take her back to DC with me. And if that's still not a life you want…" Emily stopped, standing frozen and silent for a moment. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.

He turned in the direction she was pointing, but his head shook in a negative reply. A second later, Derek did hear a soft sound of footsteps in the distance. From the look on her face, he knew she'd heard it again too. They were both moving stealthily toward the source without having to convey that directive with words. Within a few minutes Derek caught sight of a tall, dark-haired man moving through the forest. And he was sure he could see Kacey slung over Toher's shoulder. The man wasn't moving fast, but efficiently, which lead Morgan to think he'd probably carted dead animals out of the forest in a similar manner. He prayed that Kacey was alive.

Toher reached the edge of a small clearing when Morgan used a hand gesture instructing Emily to take cover behind a nearby tree while he did the same behind another. "Mel Toher!" Derek called to the man and watched as he stopped in his tracks. "This is the FBI, we have you surrounded," it was a small lie, but Derek hoped it might spook the kidnapper. "We need you to surrender the girl. You have no place to run."

Emily watched as Toher scurried behind a tree for cover and dropped Kacey to the ground. The girl didn't move and Emily's heart beat faster, wanting to just run over there and snatch her daughter up. Instead, she trained her weapon on Toher, trying to get a clean shot. She glanced over her shoulder to see Derek attempting the same, but neither of them had any success. "I know there're only two of you," the man called out. "I've been hunting a long time, you think I didn't hear you?" he scoffed.

"Just give us the girl," Emily returned. She honestly didn't care at that moment if Toher got away.

"No, she must be punished for not listening to her mother," Mel informed them. "If she'd only listened, she'd still be alive."

"I'm her mother, you bastard!" Emily screamed. "What have you done to Kacey?"

Derek listened to Emily and could tell her fuse was almost burned up, which meant an explosion was imminent. He was afraid of what she might do if they couldn't talk Toher down soon. But he was fairly certain Toher was stuck in the past, as his wife had been, and that Kacey was still alive. "That's not Katie with you, Toher," he tried to reason with the man. "Her name is Kacey and she's not your little girl. Katie is gone, but you don't have to let Kacey die because your daughter had an accident. She was just a kid, and she wanted to climb a tree. She didn't mean to leave you."

"You don't know anything," Toher's voice was less emphatic, but still dangerously vehement.

Emily holstered her weapon and moved away from the cover of her tree. "Toher, I just want my little girl. Let her go and you can go."

Morgan growled in frustration as he watched her move into the clearing with her arms held above her head. "Damn it, Emily," he swore under his breath, but kept hidden with his gun aimed. His best bet was to stay out of sight and be her back up.

She moved further into the clearing, trying to get a look at Kacey. "Please, let's just end this before Kacey is hurt," she pleaded with him like she had with his wife earlier; hoping one of them was reachable. "Will you at least let me see her, so I know she's all right?"

There was no response from Toher for a long time, but then Kacey appeared beside the tree. She was standing only because her captor had her propped. Derek could see that her hands and ankles were bound, and her mouth gagged. At least they knew why she hadn't cried out, and they knew she was alive. But at that moment, seeing the frightened look in Kacey's eyes, Morgan wanted to join Emily in the open and take their chances with grabbing the girl away from Toher. Instead, he tried one more time to reach the man. If he was letting them see her and not running, it seemed maybe he had a heart after all. "Why don't you let her go now? We've already contacted the other search teams and they'll be here shortly," it was another lie on Derek's part, but a confident one. "You're not getting away this time."

A huge clap of thunder echoed through the trees as Emily watched Kacey try to wiggle free from Toher. She locked eyes with her daughter for just a second before Toher lifted Kacey by the waist, holding her like a shield against his chest as he leveled his gun. Emily reached for her weapon. The sound of gunfire mingled with thunder, rumbling all around her. Her hands were barely curled around her gun when she saw Toher's backside retreating into the woods. A split second later her legs buckled, sending her to the ground. "Kacey!" she shouted over the storm, but her voice was merely a whisper compared to the booming weather.

"Emily!" Derek swooped in and knelt beside her. His attempt at hitting Toher had plugged the tree instead. Kacey had been too close to the man and Emily had also been blocking any possible shot. That didn't matter, though, as he tried to assess the situation. "Where were you hit?" he asked her. The dried blood on her knees was most visible, but he remembered that was Donovan's.

"I… what?" Emily was confused until she recalled the sensation of falling, shock having blocked her memory of being shot. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to register where the pain was coming from. A hand finally clasped down on her upper right thigh. "It's not bad, I can get up," she insisted. "It was just a graze."

Morgan attempted to help her up, but she faltered. "Em, I think it's worse than you realize."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, go after her," she insisted, pushing him away. "I've got the radio, I'll call for help. Go after her, Derek. Go!" the final word shook through the woods like the growl of a mother bear doing everything to protect her cub.

Derek hesitated for a second, but he knew she was right. He realized that Toher had intentionally lured them in closer. He'd fired in perfect timing with the thunder, so no one else in the area would hear. He wasn't stupid, but calculating. The man had been hoping to slow them down, and he'd succeeded with Emily. Morgan had no intention of letting him get away that easily. He jumped to his feet and set off after Kacey.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

_**Thank you all very much for reading, and for your lovely comments on the last part.**_

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 6

By N. J. Borba

* * *

Trees rushed past Morgan in a blur of movement as he ran. And thunder rumbled all around him, though he'd yet to feel a single drop of rain. Meddlesome pine boughs and leaf-less oak limbs reached out to swat him against the face, shoulders, knees and ankles. But they were all unsuccessful attacks. He didn't allow them to slow him down, nor did he let thoughts of an injured Emily halt his pace or turn him around. Derek could still see the worry lines that had been etched across her brow as she'd begged him to go after Kacey. That image of her, coupled with the memory of Kacey's frightened face, was the main thing spurning him on at the moment. He had no intention of letting either of them down.

Even as night rapidly squeezed in on him, Derek caught momentary glimpses of Toher through the trees. He estimated that he'd followed the man a good three miles over mostly inclined territory. The sky was nearly pitch black when Toher finally came to a stop near a small structure that Derek could barely see. He drew his weapon and used the flashlight attachment on the gun to get a better view. The man dropped Kacey, unceremoniously, several feet away from the cabin, or whatever the building was. Morgan watched Toher move toward the structure and disappear. He knew it was probably the best opportunity he was going to get and ran headlong toward the child. Derek knelt down in front of her and gently removed the gag in her mouth as he pressed one finger to his lips in a sign for her to keep quiet.

"Please don't be afraid, Kacey," he spoke softly. "I'm here to help you. My name is Derek and I know your mommy. She's my friend and we both work for the FBI; do you know what that is?"

"Like the police," she whispered.

Derek watched her little face change from fully cautious to a somewhat trusting state. "Exactly," he nodded, working at the ropes that were binding her wrists.

"I heard my mommy," Kacey told him. "And I saw the bad man hurt her," the last few words came out in a tiny warble that revealed how scared she really was.

Morgan started to untie the ropes around her ankles, noticing her bare and dirty feet. He attempted to reassure her as he worked. "I know, brave-girl, but your mommy is going to be fine," he hoped the words he spoke were true. Derek prayed that the other search teams had found Emily already, not wanting her to be stuck in the dark woods alone. "But right now, we need to be really quiet," he warned as he finished with the ropes and was about to help her up.

"Too late for that," Toher's voice cut through the icy evening air. He stood just a few feet away and shone a bright flashlight in Derek's eyes while his other hand squeezed tightly around the handle of a shovel. In an instant, the sharp metal end of the tool came down hard on Morgan's left shoulder, out toward the end where his kevlar didn't cover. A second after that first blow, the backside of the shovel swept across Derek's face, like the smack of a hand with ten times the force. "You're good," the man said, peering down at a grimacing Morgan from his superior, standing position. "I actually thought I'd lost you on the way up."

That revelation didn't make Derek feel too great, though, considering he'd just let his guard down long enough for Toher to sneak up on him. But he stayed low to the ground for a few more minutes, planning to lure the man in. Morgan groaned and reached up to tenderly run a finger over the gash along his cheek. The hits had hurt plenty, but he'd endured worse. His motions now were all for show as he waited for Toher to move in closer and go for the girl, which he figured was inevitable. Sure enough, Toher easily obliged. And Derek was immensely proud when he noticed Kacey running away from the site. He sat up, reached for the gun at his side, raised it, but wasn't able to get a shot off before Toher again used his shovel and knocked the weapon clear of Morgan's hands.

Derek heard a distant thunk and a slight rattle of branches. He knew his gun was lost to the forest floor. But he still had one surprise up his sleeve that Toher didn't know about, or rather, up his pant leg. As the man brought the shovel down again in an arcing motion, Morgan managed to grasp the smaller gun strapped to his ankle. This time when he brought it up, Derek had just a split second to remove the safety and fire. The shot went a little wide as Morgan tried to focus in the blinding flashlight beams, but he successfully plugged the man in the left shoulder. It was just enough distraction for Toher to drop the shovel, which Derek quickly grabbed.

Gun still in his right hand, Derek jumped to his feet and turned the shovel against Toher, knocking the man backwards onto his butt. The flashlight rolled away toward the bushes, causing beams of light to twist all around the scene. But it was mostly dark as Derek continued to beat the kidnapper unconscious with the shovel. Morgan wasted no time after that, promptly finding a tree that was sturdy but not too thick around its base, just the perfect size to wrap Toher's arms around and tie his hands the way he'd done to poor Kacey earlier. When Toher was secure, head lolling lifelessly to one side, Derek patted the man down, knowing he had two fire arms registered in his name. Morgan plucked the 9mm out of Toher's jacket pocket and stowed it in his gun holster.

He grabbed Toher's fallen flashlight and stood, wondering if he could retrieve his own weapon. But the light that had seemed so bright against his eyes earlier was barely a pinprick against the deep darkness that had descended over the wood, which seemed to further negate his brief thoughts about taking his chances with the flashlight and heading down the mountain. Morgan had a feeling they might end up completely lost doing that. With Toher subdued and tied to the tree he decided instead to stay put, hoping the search parties would be out again in full force come daylight.

Morgan turned to let Kacey know of his decision, but the girl had vanished. His stomach rose in his throat as he shone the light all around the area. "Kacey?" he called out for her, panic starting to seep in just when he thought the worst was over. He moved toward the cabin, still using the small pool of light to search for the child. Derek was about to veer right when he felt a tug at his shirt from behind. He spun around and nearly blinded the girl as he looked down to inspect her.

Her aqua eyes twinkled in the dim light, looking up at him with a little less fear than before. "The bad man was hurting you and I couldn't stop him, so I hid."

His whole body relaxed, at least as much as it could. Morgan was already feeling his muscles tense up from the long day's ordeal and his recent injuries. "That's good, kiddo, I'm glad you knew to hide," he smiled a little to reassure her.

"Derek," she spoke in a smaller, hesitant voice. "I was scared and I… I had a… accident."

He wasn't sure what she meant, but rather than fear on her face he thought he saw a bit of embarrassment. Derek finally shone the light down, working on a hunch. He noticed the wet stain on the front of her jeans and his heart went out to her. After all the time she'd spent trying to remain strong during her kidnapping, she'd finally reacted in the way any scared child might have. "Yes you did, brave-girl, but don't you worry about that right now, okay?"

"Okay," Kacey nodded, seeming to already trust him.

Another huge clap of thunder reverberated through the trees and Derek suddenly found himself with a child wrapping her arms around his waist. As she buried her face against his stomach, Derek felt the first small drop of rain hit his head. He was certain more would soon follow. "Come on, I think this storm is finally about to show us what it's really made of," Derek lifted the child into his arms. She felt light as a feather to him as they carefully traversed the short distance to the cabin.

Inside the flimsy wood structure, the place seemed even smaller than it looked from the exterior. Morgan guessed it was no more than six by eight. There was a cot along one wall, but no blankets or pillows. To the left of the cot was a small metal cabinet about waist height. Other than that, there were only a few hooks on the walls and door. Derek guessed Toher usually brought up all his supplies with him and that the massive hooks were used to hold dead animal skins. But this time Toher must not have been planning to stay very long. And the image of Toher coming after Kacey with that shovel sent icy waves of anger through his veins. Morgan had no doubt what the man had been up to. He imagined their investigation of the area would turn up a body or two; not animal bodies.

Derek put Kacey down on her feet. "Will the bad man come back?" she asked.

He looked her in the eye, seeing so much of Emily's strength in the child. "I won't let him touch you again. I swear," Derek vowed. Morgan searched the cabinet and found an oil lantern and matches, a can of beans, one fork and even a can opener. He sat all the items on top of the cabinet and hoped there would be enough oil in the lamp to last a while. More importantly, though, he hoped the matches wouldn't be damp. At least one of his wishes came true as the first match he struck lit up. The lamp caught light, too, bathing the space in some reassurance of civility. But another clap of thunder sent Kacey barreling into Morgan again.

"Thunder's scary," she whimpered.

Morgan was surprised that after everything she'd been through, a thunder storm had her scared. He figured it was more a matter of finally having someone on her side that allowed her to retreat to childhood fears. Derek sat on the cot and unzipped his wind breaker. He removed the jacket, his vest and even the long sleeved cotton shirt underneath. Then he replaced the vest and jacket. As he regarded Kacey again, Morgan was a little unsure about the next task, but he followed through. "Why don't you get out of those wet things," he suggested.

Kacey nodded and held on to his knee as she pulled her pants down one leg at a time. Derek noticed something fall out the backside of her jeans and reached to pick it up. The first genuine smile to grace his lips in a while appeared as he held the ladybug in hand. He watched Kacey smile too as she snatched it out of his hand and hugged it against her chest. She was standing there in only a t-shirt and wet underwear, little legs shaking, as she cuddled her stuffed animal. "Do you think I could hold on to your friend for a minute while you take off the rest of your wet things?" he asked.

She seemed reluctant to let go, but handed the puppet over and shed her final layer. Derek didn't know where he was meant to look, but he tried to avert his gaze upward as he reached out and handed her his shirt. "Why don't you put this on," he suggested.

A few seconds later Kacey was tangled in the large shirt. "Derek, I need help."

He looked down to find that her little head was stuck half way through the right arm hole. Morgan chuckled softly as he corrected that mistake and eased the shirt down her body. The sleeves hung to the floor and the bottom hem dangled just above her heels. He rolled back each of the sleeves for her. "I hate to say this to such a pretty little thing, but that is the ugliest dress I've ever seen," Derek told her.

Her smile radiated outward. "It's dry," was all she said in a grateful manner, reaching for her puppet. She slipped the gloved animal over her left hand and held it out for Derek to see. Kacey made the puppet 'talk' by moving her fingers. She even changed the pitch of her voice to create a character persona. "Hi, my name is Emily and I'm a ladybug. I have a secret; do you wanna know my secret?"

"Only if you want to tell me," Derek replied, amused that she'd named the puppet after her mother.

Kacey dropped her hand and slid the puppet off. Then she turned the glove section inside out and revealed an opening in the fabric that was about two inches wide. She pulled out a small item and handed it to Derek, revealing it to be a photograph. "That's me and my mommy on my first birthday," she explained to him.

Derek gazed at a slightly younger Emily holding her daughter. The two of them looked undeniably happy. "Your mommy is the most beautiful woman I know," he said, handing the photo back to its owner.

"I think mommy loves me," Kacey stated. "But she went away when I was littler and I don't remember her. Daddy said she didn't want to leave me, but that it was compl…" she struggled with the word.

"Complicated?" Derek guessed and watched her nod. "Well, your daddy was right. They had grown-up issues to deal with, but it wasn't because they didn't both love you very much. I know your mommy loves you, more than anything." He felt a rush of cold wind at his back as he watched Kacey carefully tuck the picture back into its hiding place. The wood plank walls were clearly not sealed against the weather, but at least they'd be a lot warmer and dryer than if they were trying to blindly make their way down the mountain.

More thunder rumbled through the small shack and Kacey moved in closer, practically hugging Derek's knees. "Daddy or Molly lets me sleep in their bed when there's bad storms," she said, looking up at him with big, pleading eyes.

"Would you like to sit with me?" he asked, his heart aching with the knowledge that her daddy was gone and she didn't even know. From what Derek understood, Lucas Donovan hadn't been the most involved father, but Kacey clearly loved both her parents a great deal despite their abbreviated presence in her life.

She nodded and crawled onto the cot with her ladybug. But, instead of sitting beside him as Derek thought she would, Kacey positioned herself on his lap. Her head leaned against his shoulder like she'd known him all her life. "Derek?" she whispered his name. "Will you please tell me a story?"

He never would have tried to touch or hug her in any manner, especially after what she'd probably endured with Toher. But he was amazed by her instantly loving nature with him. She'd quickly deemed him a safe haven, which made him feel good. In that moment, Derek felt some of his insecurities fade and his arms wrapped around her, one hand against her back. "I don't really know any stories, kiddo," he replied.

"Do you like animals?" she asked, seeking out some sort of conversation, story or otherwise.

Derek's head bobbed. "Yep, I like a lot of different animals."

"What's your favorite?"

"Hmm…" he thought about that for a second. "I guess dogs. At least as far as pets go."

"I love doggies, too," she replied excitedly. "My daddy can't have dogs 'cause he's allergic, but some day I want a dog. Do you have a dog?"

He smiled just to hear her talk; her squeaky voice was one of the sweetest sounds he'd ever heard. And he couldn't help imagining Emily as a little girl as he watched Kacey. "I did, but he got old and I had to… well, he went to sleep."

"He died," Kacey replied, knowingly. "My friend Anna at school had a white dog named Sandy and he died. She was really sad and so was I 'cause I would play with him too when I visited them. But Anna gots another dog later. He's a brown dog called Pluto, and now Anna loves him too. I don't know what my favorite animals is. I like lots of 'em, dogs and cats, fish and birds. Do you know why my favorite color is blue?"

Morgan was impressed by her undaunted spirit. It was infectious. "No, why?"

"Blue is the color of the oceans and there are lots of animals that live in the ocean," Kacey explained. "And blue is the color of the sky, and the sky covers all the land and that's where all the other animals live that don't swim," she concluded.

Her explanation sparked a memory for Morgan, one he hadn't thought of in a really long time. Derek relaxed a little more, thinking that having her curled up in his arms seemed rather natural. "When I was about your age, my favorite animal was the zebra."

"Really?" Kacey sounded surprised. "Why?"

"Well, I was seven years old and my dad, mom, sisters and I all got to go on a really special trip to a big zoo," Morgan began. "We saw so many animals there from all around the world, ones my sisters and I had only ever seen in books before. I liked all of the animals a lot, but when we saw the zebra I knew it was my favorite. I liked it best because it was black and white all together, just like me. And everyone thought it was beautiful. Nobody teased it. They didn't think it was weird at all to be both colors at the same time."

"I like zebras, too," Kacey said. "But I don't think they'd be good pets."

He knew she probably hadn't grasped the deeper meaning of his words, but that wasn't important. "No, you're probably right," he agreed. If it weren't for the horribly drafty surroundings and the dire situation they were still stuck in, Derek thought it might have been a fun conversation to have with a six year old. They seemed to have an instant connection. It had happened rather the same way with Emily, having bonded quickly with her over a common interest.

After several minutes of silence, Morgan thought for sure she'd fallen asleep, and he vowed to stay awake all night to watch over her. But her silky-soft voice spoke to him again. "Derek, I saw the bad man hurt daddy too," the child revealed. "And daddy was bleeding more than a band-aid would cover."

Derek felt himself regress in age, tumbling back to the day he'd witness his father's shooting. The sights and sounds were still so clear in his head. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, darling." He ran a hand over her hair in a soothing motion, hoping she would be able to fall asleep. But further words came out of her mouth, words he really hadn't been prepared for.

"Is my daddy dead?" Kacey asked.

Morgan was caught in a whirlwind of thought for a moment, not sure what to tell her. He'd figured it would be Emily to tell the girl about her father's passing. But she'd just asked him outright and it seemed wrong not to tell her the truth. On the other hand, he was scared of the reaction he might get from the child, fearing he was unprepared for the kind of comfort she'd require. But the truth finally won out in the end. "Yes, sweetheart," he nearly choked on the unpleasant words.

She cried against his shoulder. "I don't want daddy to be gone."

"I know, brave-girl," Derek whispered, gently rubbing her back. There was no more comfort he could lend than that as he let her cry herself to sleep.

xxx

Brisk morning air stung Emily's cheeks, and the chilly wind whispered doubts in her ear. Sunrise had occurred nearly an hour earlier but thick clouds continued to loom low. They allowed a few rays of light through, but blocked out most of the sun's warmth. Emily felt a similar blockage in her heart at the moment as she worried about Kacey and Derek. The search had resumed at first light and she'd been there with the other teams, raring to go, despite Hotch's protests. All she'd had to do was point out the fact that if it was Jack missing, Hotch never would have stopped searching during the night.

The only reason she'd stopped was due to a gunshot wound. Thankfully the bullet had gone clean through her upper thigh without too much damage. But it had bled enough to make Hotch lobby for her return to St. Louis. Emily had protested, though, and compromised with being sent to a county doctor in nearby Centerville. The man had stitched her up to the best of his abilities. He'd also made her eat something, citing that exhaustion and malnutrition along with her blood loss would lay her out again if she insisted on returning to the search. Hotch didn't take no for an answer when he insisted she rest the remainder of the night. But Emily had only closed her eyes for a few hours before she was on her feet again.

JJ and agent Morris had driven down early to join the search party. Despite her initial dislike of the smug agent, Emily appreciated all the help they could get. She was still glad, though, when Rossi offered to be Morris' search partner. Hotch and JJ paired up while several other deputies and rangers also split off in groups. Sheriff Clay's orders were to return to Derek's last known position and branch off from there. But the K-9 unit hadn't been able to pick up a new trail, due to the heavy rains that had fallen all night. All of which left Emily walking beside Reid through the thick trees and slightly inclined trail, wondering if her daughter and the man she loved had made it through the night alive.

Emily took each step as carefully as possible, trying not to cringe as pain shot up and down her right leg. Heavy painkillers had been out of the question for a few reasons, one being she didn't want the drowsiness that accompanied them. And the main reason was due to something she was trying hard not to think about at the moment. Emily was failing rather miserably at that, though, as she glanced over at Reid. He'd been watching her like a hawk since they'd found her last night. There was a brotherly protectiveness radiating off him that she couldn't help admire, but it was a little annoying too. "Don't keep looking at me like that," she finally spoke after nearly a mile of silence. "It doesn't even hurt," Emily lied.

"Sure," he wasn't convinced. "The same way lifting a three-thousand pound car off your trapped child wouldn't hurt at all?"

A thin smile formed on her lips. "Yeah, something like that," Emily confirmed. "You know what? I wouldn't mind having Jayna's shape shifting powers right about now so I could turn into a panther or something else that could move a lot faster through this maze of trees."

Reid sensed that she was trying to retreat again. He finally knew something of the reason why she'd remained rather closed off to the team for so many years. The loss of Kacey had obviously shut down a lot of her emotional responses, except the ones he'd always seen emerge when dealing with kids. "Come to think of it, if I had Zan's power I could turn myself into a river and traverse a lot more area in a quicker fashion," he played along for a moment and they chuckled softly, but Spencer felt he was doing her a disservice by not talking about the heavy issues. "What's it like being a parent?" he asked.

"I'm hardly the person to be asking that question," Emily responded dismissively.

The man sighed, deciding to push a little harder. "But you gave birth to Kacey," Reid reminded her. "And you were with her the whole first year. What was that like?"

"Scary," the word flew from her lips, but another small smile formed there as well. "And wonderful," Emily admitted. Despite all the heartache and headache with Lucas, Kacey was still the best thing she'd ever done with her life. She glanced over at Reid, forgetting for a moment how much her leg hurt. "You ever think about having kids?"

He recalled Garcia once asking a similar question. "Sure… a little bit," Reid hesitated. "But I still haven't reconciled the fact that my family's genetic history could mean either having a really smart child, or a mentally unstable one. I know about living one of those extremes and I wouldn't wish it on any child." He tried to shrug off the uncomfortable twist in their conversation. "Not to mention that timing and circumstances have never been right either."

"Ah, yes. Timing…" she exhaled heavily. Emily was grateful of his honest response as she felt the emotional dam inside her began to slide again. "I can honestly tell you that babies know absolutely nothing about timing, because this baby I'm carrying right now was..." they both halted their step, Reid unsure if he'd heard her correctly, and Emily unsure if she'd actually let those words out of her mouth. She'd been sitting on that secret for several days, but it actually felt good to finally share it. "I'm pregnant, Reid," she nodded her affirmation. "You're the first to know."

"I… um…" Reid was still in a state of shock. "Did you just find out in Centerville last night?"

"No," Emily took a deep breath as they continued walking, the incline getting slightly steeper with each step. "I found out Wednesday after going to see a doctor, thinking the Thai shrimp was going to do me in."

"So, it wasn't food poisoning?"

Her head moved left to right. "Nope, although food has not been helping matters this week. I swear I never felt this sick with Kacey."

"Different genetics can mean a lot of things might be different," he easily jumped into doctor mode. "With Morgan being this baby's… uh, Morgan is the father, isn't he?" Spencer inquired. He watched her nod and felt honored that she was confiding in him. "Does he know yet?"

Emily chuckled. "Exactly what part of '_you're the first to know_' didn't you understand, genius?"

"Oh, yeah…" a sheepish grin caused his cheeks to flush. "I'm guessing this wasn't a planned thing?"

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed at his comment. "I was on the pill, religiously," Emily laughed at the irony of what she'd just said. "No, this is what you would call the surprise of your life. For several weeks I thought it was just stress, because of the last few cases being so intense and one on top of another."

Spencer's focus remained on the earliest thing she'd mentioned. "Did you know that getting pregnant while on the pill can actually increase your chances of having a multiple birth? Apparently the pill can cause hyper ovulation in some instances, which means more than one egg is released at the same time and…"

"Please shut up now," Emily interrupted, resisting the urge to slug him. "I can't even wrap my head around the idea of having one baby right now. And Derek doesn't even want kids…"

"I think when Morgan finds out about this baby he'll feel a lot different," Reid tried to comfort her.

"But what if he just feels obligated?" she countered, doubts swimming in her head again. "I wish…" her words were silenced by the distinctive sound of a gunshot somewhere further up the mountain. The pain in her leg didn't even register, nor did her previous worries about Derek possibly not wanting their child. Her feet moved rapidly as Reid kept pace beside her, both of them jogging toward the source. She hit the red button on her two-way radio and reported in. "This is team three; we're about half way up the mountain and just heard gunfire, currently headed north-west to investigate."

Hotch's voice filtered through the radio's static. "_Copy that, we heard it too and are closing in, but team two is much closer to your position. I'm calling them in now to meet you,_" he ended.

"Maybe we should let Rossi and Morris handle this," Reid voiced his opinion.

"You want me to weigh one child's life against another?" there was a sharp defensive tone to her voice. Emily knew his concern was for the baby she'd just told him about. She was touched by his sentiment, but nothing was going to detour her. "I can't do that," her head shook. The answer was final. And with that said, only the sound of their hurried footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the forest as they ran.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 7

By N. J. Borba

* * *

He woke with a start and it took him a second to remember where he was. Derek's eyes opened wider. "Shit," he mumbled, cursing himself for having fallen asleep after he'd vowed to stay awake all night to watch over Kacey. Thoughts of the little girl brought a surprising smile to his lips and he glanced over to the other side of the cot where he expected her to still be sleeping. His heart dropped into his stomach when he saw that she wasn't there. Morgan jumped to his feet. He searched under the cot and then inside the small cabinet. Those were the only two places she could have hid in the tiny cabin and he didn't find her in either one.

The cabin door nearly broke off its rusty hinges when Morgan swatted it open as if he were trying to shoo away an offending bee buzzing in his ear. His right hand rested on the gun he'd taken from Toher the night before. A landscape of densely packed pine trees and ferns spread out before him, as far as his eye could see. Gray morning light filtered through the trees and a thin layer of fog hovered low against the ground. Each worried breath he took carried away from his lips in wispy trails of white air. The cold barely registered, though, as Derek scanned the area.

"Kacey!" he called out for her, his heart thumping a little louder with each step he took away from the cabin.

Her squeaky-soft voice wafted over to him as she appeared from behind a thick-trunked pine tree. "I had to go potty," Kacey explained, standing barefoot on the cold, muddy ground.

Morgan stared down at her, taking in the picture of her messy dark hair, dirty feet and lopsided grin. And of course she had her puppet clasped tightly against her chest. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the child. Derek had seen her scared one minute and chatting about animals the next, then mourning her father's loss moments after that. Now she seemed relatively content after her ordeal. But Derek had a feeling that she was as good at burying her true emotions as Emily was. He closed the gap between himself and the girl, scooping her up. "Don't you ever run off like that again," his voice came out harsher than he'd planned and Morgan watched as her lower lip trembled. "I'm not mad at you, Kacey, I was just really worried when I couldn't find you," he explained in a softer tone.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"I'm sorry, too, for raising my voice," he shifted her weight to his left side. It was bright enough outside to start walking back, but he thought some nutrition might be in order. It seemed the sort of thing a parent should worry about. "What do you think about cold beans for breakfast before we climb down this mountain?" Derek put the offer to her, remembering the unopened can in Toher's cabin.

Her nose crinkled up. "I like chocolate milk and peaches for breakfast," she told him with a firm nod.

It was Derek's turn to wrinkle his nose. "Does your nanny let you eat that stuff for breakfast?" Morgan asked, thinking it was doubtful.

"Um," she nervously bit her bottom lip in a way he'd seen Emily do many times. "Nope," Kacey admitted. "But sometimes Ms. Turner does, if I ask real nice."

Derek smiled, having a pretty good feeling that her idea of asking nicely involved a bit of arm twisting to get her way. He could already tell she was trouble, although a good kind of trouble. The kind of trouble that was going to have him wrapped around her little finger in short order. But Morgan realized he wouldn't really mind that at all. He'd already been starting to imagine himself and Emily raising the girl together. It seemed to be a complete about-face from his feelings just a few days ago, but he knew better than some that a person's life could change drastically in a day's time, or even hours or minutes. And the last twelve hours had him realizing that he wanted to spend his life with Emily, no matter what that meant, including taking on her daughter.

"How about when we get down from this mountain and back to civilization, I promise you we'll have peaches and chocolate milk," Morgan told her, his stomach still churning a little at the prospect. "Well, maybe I'll have coffee and eggs and you can have the other stuff. Is it a deal?"

She nodded happily. "Deal. Will mommy be at the bottom of the mountain when we get there?"

"I bet she will," Morgan replied, hoping for the same thing. "But knowing your stubborn mommy, she's probably already up here looking for us." He pushed a lock of her rumpled hair behind one ear as they moved away from the cabin. Derek wanted to check on Toher before they headed off, but when they spotted the tree where he was certain he'd left Toher the night before, Derek quickly realized that his life was about to take another of those drastic turns he'd been thinking about earlier. He put Kacey down, shed his jacket and removed his vest again. This time he strapped the kevlar around Kacey's small frame, cinching it as tight as possible.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We're going now, and I need you to hold on tight to me all the way down," he ordered; no room for compromise in his voice. "Do you understand?"

"Derek, you're scarring me," Kacey whimpered.

Morgan zipped up his jacket and lifted her into his arms again. "I know and I'm real sorry. But it's very important you do everything I tell you to, okay?" She nodded. "Good. Now keep your head down, brave-girl," he whispered. "And try to keep your legs wrapped around me so I can move faster if I need to."

Kacey did exactly as he instructed. She was quiet as could be while Derek skirted past the tree. He noticed the deep scratch marks on the bark where Toher had obviously spent hours in the dark working to free his hands of the ropes. Morgan wanted to berate himself for not doing more to restrain Toher, but he knew that would be wasteful thought. Most importantly he needed to get Kacey safely down the mountain. They were only a couple hundred feet past the marred tree when they heard a soft sound in the nearby bushes. Derek paused his step, fingers squeezed around the gun as he turned his head slowly to the left.

"It's a pretty deer," Kasey whispered and pointed.

Derek saw it too, but he put her arm back around his neck. It was a huge buck, stopped in the woods as if posing for a picture. Morgan had never hunted a day in his life, but even he could tell it would be quite the prize for someone. It seemed a shame, though, to think a person would strike down such a gorgeous animal for sport. Even as the last bit of that thought trickled from his head, a gunshot shattered the calm forest. Kacey screamed as the deer stumbled and fell backward, blood seeping from a hole in its left flank. She buried her face against Derek's shoulder.

"A truly beautiful creature," the hollow sound of Toher's voice carried across the small expanse and caused Derek to spin around. They were only about ten feet apart with no trees between them. "But if God doesn't seem to care about snuffing out the life of a beautiful, innocent child, why should I care about taking the life of another of his creations?" the man asked.

Morgan spotted the riffle in Toher's grasp, guessing the man had stowed it somewhere in the woods the night before. He put Kacey down and stood in front of her, blocking her from Toher. The other man calmly slung the riffle over his right shoulder and then drew Derek's Glock in his left hand, which he'd obviously searched the forest for. "So, now what?" Morgan asked, noticing the crimson stain on Toher's shoulder where he'd been shot the night before, and the marks on his wrists. But he seemed numb to any pain; his face devoid of all emotion. "We stand here and shoot one another with each other's guns? This is ridiculous."

"Maybe," Toher replied, raising Derek's gun. "But if I don't kill her they'll get their hands on her. She'll be lost either way."

Toher's odd response confused Derek, but he didn't dwell on it. "You need help," he stated, maintaining his stance, feet planted, arms raised and gun aimed. "No one else has to get hurt over this. Just drop your weapons and Kacey can be reunited with her mother. Isn't that what you'd want for your little girl, for her to be with her mother again?" Derek pleaded.

"No," Toher's eyes narrowed as he pressed down on the trigger of the weapon. "My stupid, cheating wife is the reason Katie fell out of that tree," he growled. "I won't let Doris get her hands on this one either," his words escaped in time with the bullet from the barrel of his weapon.

Morgan fired at the same time, but he felt the impact of a bullet against his chest before he could even try to see if he'd gotten Toher. The gunshot wound made his stomach rise into his throat and caused most of his right side to wobble like jell-o. The weapon slipped out of his hand and he saw Kacey by his side as he fell backwards onto the muddy ground. Derek watched her grow fuzzier by the second as he tried to call out to her. He wanted her to run, but the words wouldn't form.

"Derek!" Kacey screamed his name. "Get up!" she begged, tugging on his arm. Kacey sunk down beside him. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to use her favorite toy to stop the blood flowing from the wound in his chest. "Derek, please get up. Please!" She looked up and saw Toher standing next to her. "Go away!" she shouted. "Help me!" her pleas for help were directed to the trees all around them. "Somebody please, help me!"

"I'll help you, Kacey," Toher said as he grabbed her by the arm.

Kacey sucked down her tears and kicked at the man, trying to get away. Then she remembered what Derek had said earlier about her mother probably already being close, looking for them. "Mommy!" she tried calling for the woman as a last hope. "MOMMY!"

xxx

The muddy ground squished beneath Emily's shoes as she ran. She and Reid had only been on the move a short time when another gunshot filled the air. But that wasn't what made them both move even faster, it was the screaming that started up shortly after the second gunshot. Emily's thoughts retreated and five years dissolved as she remembered the last time she'd seen Kacey. The one-year-old child had been asleep in her crib, curled up with her favorite blanket; fluffy golden hair matted against her little head. Emily had pressed a kiss against her daughter's forehead, whispering how much she loved her. She'd left after that; a mother for a year and then no more.

"MOMMY!"

Kacey's scream nearly tore Emily's heart out as she emerged onto the scene. Her eyes fell upon Kacey first and Derek second. The child was in Toher's grasp. Morgan was on the ground, bleeding. Only one of them was wearing a kevlar vest, but not the one who'd been shot. All of her hopes flew away with the morning breeze as she drew her weapon and faced Toher. There was little she could do for Morgan at the moment so she focused all her attention on Kacey. Her eyes locked with the girl as she flashed a reassuring smile, wishing their first meeting after five years could have been a little less complicated. Emily shifted her mother-bear gaze to Toher who sported two shoulder wounds, one looking much fresher than the other.

"You really are surrounded this time," she growled, knowing the others were close.

"Doesn't matter," he hissed. Kacey was pressed against his chest, feet dangling off the ground and her head practically covering his face. The coward was using her as a shield again, holding his gun on her. "I'm prepared to die with her, knowing she'll be safe from them."

Emily didn't understand his reasoning, but she was done trying to analyze his behavior. All she wanted was to take him down, because she wasn't about to let anyone else she cared about die. Her feet slowly shifted to the right, further and further. She watched as Toher's eyes and body followed her movements. That was what she wanted, because a few seconds later she moved left and he was too slow to respond. Reid assisted her by firing at Toher, catching him in the knee. Toher stumbled forward and slackened his hold on Kacey, but he still had her by one arm when he leveled his weapon on Emily.

Reid rushed toward his friend, pushing her out of the way. He was prepared to take any bullet intended for Emily and her unborn child, knowing it was what Morgan would have done to protect them if he could. A shot rang out, sending birds fleeing from the tree tops, but a bullet never came for Reid or Emily. The two of them finally looked over to see Rossi and Morris, the latter standing over Toher. The man on the ground gazed up at Morris with dead eyes, a bullet hole centered in his forehead. Emily barely registered the man's death before she felt Kacey smash into her left side. As she held the girl close, the world seemed to right itself a little. But the moment passed too quickly as she heard Reid whispering something in her ear.

Kacey reluctantly stayed with Reid while Emily went to Derek and knelt beside him. She took his hand, trying to block out images of doing the same thing for Lucas just a day ago. "Kacey?" Derek rasped the child's name.

"She's fine," Emily whispered reassuringly as she heard Rossi and a cacophony of other voices squeeze in on the scene. But her focus remained on Morgan as his eyes slid shut. "Derek? Don't you dare leave me like this," she demanded. "Do you hear me?" her voice cracked. Emily leaned in closer, her lips against his ear as she held his hand tighter. "This isn't the way I wanted to tell you, but you're going to be a daddy. And I need you to freak out with me about this baby thing, because I have no idea what I'm going to do with a six year old and a newborn." She gently kissed his forehead just above the brow line. "I know this isn't what you planned, but if you're going to abandon us, you damn well better say it to my face."

"Prentiss, we need to move him." Emily pulled away from Derek a little and looked over, seeing Hotch there. "Clay's already called in a medical chopper, they'll be here in a few minutes but we have to move him to a clearing a few yards away," he explained.

She was vaguely aware of her head nodding in agreement. "Emily," she heard the barely audible whisper escape Derek's lips and knew he was still clinging to life.

"I love you," Emily finally told him, hating the fact that it had taken her so long to say those words. "And I'm feeling very stingy right now, because as happy as I am that you saved her… I won't accept her life in exchange for yours. I want you both. Actually, I want all _three_ of you," she insisted as JJ finally pulled her away from him. A park ranger and one of Clay's deputies carefully lifted Derek, keeping him as stable as possible as they transferred him to the clearing. "I want to go with him," Emily stood and looked to Hotch, making her request.

"There won't be room," Hotch replied, watching as Kacey detached herself from Reid and clung to Emily again. He could only imagine the nightmares she'd have after the ordeal, because he knew the ones Jack still had. "Reid and JJ are going to walk you back to the campground and then drive you to St. Louis. Clay told me the helicopter will take Morgan to St. Luke's Hospital," he explained. "And you'll get checked out too, both of you," he nodded toward Kacey to include the child. "Rossi and I are going to stay up here, see if Toher had some kind of burial ground for those other children that his wife mentioned."

"I think Morris should go with the rest of you," Rossi suggested. "He twisted his ankle on the way up here but wouldn't turn around."

Morris shook his head. "I may not be the most experienced in field work, but I'd rather stay and help," he protested.

"We're all grateful for the help you've already given," Hotch informed the agent, barely remembering a time when he'd thought the man to be a jerk. "And I'd feel safer knowing you were escorting them all back to town."

Agent Morris gave in with a silent nod as the whir of a chopper could be heard on approach. Emily turned in the direction where they'd taken Derek, but JJ gently guided her and Kacey away from the crime scene. "The sooner we get back to St. Louis, the sooner you'll see that he's fine," the younger woman insisted. But it was clear that Emily wasn't convinced. "You know Morgan would have been out here risking his life even if Kacey had been some complete stranger's kid," JJ pointed out.

"I know," Emily replied, but she still couldn't help feel guilty for not being there sooner.

Reid walked up beside her, Morris trailing right behind. "Emily…"

She stopped and turned her brown-eyed gaze on the young man. "What you did back there was really stupid."

Spencer's face didn't waver. "I owed you one," he replied, recalling a time when she'd taken a hell of a beating to save his life. Reid glanced down at Kacey, the corners of his mouth lifting as he regarded Emily's little girl. "I thought maybe I could give her a lift down the hill," he offered.

Emily forgave him in an instant. She put a hand against Kacey's tangle of hair. "It's okay," she told the child. "Reid is a really good friend," Emily assured her. "And I'll be right next to you the whole time."

Kacey looked up at Reid with a shy smile and lifted her arms to him, but she didn't say a word as they all continued down the hill.

xxx

JJ massaged her right shoulder with one hand as she answered her cell phone. She'd been planning to ride back with the others, but upon reaching the camp at the bottom of the mountain they'd found a dozen or so news crews thirsty for a good story. JJ had done her best to keep them away from Emily and Kacey, after which she'd given them all as many sound bites as she could. Nearly an hour later they'd all seemed sufficiently satisfied and had fled, no doubt rushing off in order to be the first to report in on the story. "Hey, Garcia," she greeted her caller.

"_You don't know how glad I am to finally get through to you_," Penelope responded. "_I've been worried sick here waiting for news_."

There was a note of urgency in the tech's voice, but JJ shrugged it off as she relayed the bad news to her friend. "Garcia, Morgan is on his way to St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis. He was shot trying to protect Kacey."

"_No,_" Garcia's voice hitched. "_Is he going to be okay? And what do you mean _trying_ to protect her? Please tell me that little girl is all right._"

"Kacey is fine," JJ was quick to assure. "Well… she wasn't injured badly, at least not physically. But I think she's still in shock. When Emily found her, Derek had already been shot and Kacey apparently tried to stop the bleeding with her stuffed animal. And she didn't make a peep all the way down the mountain."

A strangled cry escaped Garcia's throat. "_The poor dear… and Derek… I should really get to the hosp…"_ she paused. _"Wait a second, the reason I called was to tell you that Doris Toher has pulled a Houdini and disappeared_."

"Disappeared?" JJ questioned. "She was supposed to be in police custody at the hospital."

"_She was_," Garcia began to explain, stuffing down her worry for Derek a moment longer. "_Doris was scheduled for a psyche evaluation this morning, but when the doctor arrived a few hours ago, she was missing_."

The media liaison shook her head. "Morris told me everything was prepared to transfer Doris to the police station when she was released."

Penelope sighed. "_Yeah, well… I'm afraid agent Morris could be a big part of our problem. Frankly, I wouldn't trust the guy as far as I could punch him. Oh, wait… Emily already tried that,_" she took a deep breath and re-focused. "_Okay, so I happened to do some digging on Paul Morris. Seems he used to work in the Springfield, Illinois field office before being assigned here. And he specifically requested the St. Louis transfer._"

"How does that factor in?"

"_Mel and Doris Toher lived in Springfield for several years until their daughter died, at which point they moved to St. Louis_."

JJ thought that could just be coincidental. "And where are you going with this?"

"_That information got me curious about Katie Toher, so I looked for some more details on her death. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but I pulled up a picture of the girl and she has blonde hair and green eyes._"

"That doesn't really fit either Doris or Mel Toher's description," JJ noted.

"_Exactly my point_," Penelope agreed. "_But Paul Morris has blonde hair and green eyes, and Katherine Toher looked an awful lot like him. Now, maybe there were some recessive genes involved and I'm jumping to conclusions here. But the fact that agent Morris lived in the same place as Doris and then moved at the same time as she did. That smells like way more than coincidence to me. In fact, it kinda stinks. I can't be certain of any of it, but Doris is missing and Morris was one of the last people to see her. So, if I were you, I'd keep a close eye on agent Morris_."

An annoyed groan escaped JJ's mouth. "Only one problem with that, Morris is riding back to St. Louis with Reid, Emily and Kacey right now."

"_Then I really think you should…_"

"I know," JJ was already on it. "Emily doesn't have her cell phone, so I'll try Reid. You should head to the hospital and I'll get back to you as soon as I know anything," she didn't bother with a good-bye before hanging up on the woman. JJ quickly hit Reid's speed dial number and looked around the campground for someone who could help her. "Come on, Reid, pick up…" She spotted a man nearby. "Deputy?"

He approached. "Yes, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"I need to get in touch with agent Hotchner up on the mountain. It's really important," she told him.

"I'll get on the radio right away, ma'am."

She nodded a quick thank you, listening as Spencer Reid's phone went to voicemail. "Reid, call me back as soon as you get this message, and do not let Morris know you're in contact with me." JJ hung up and immediately dialed the number again.

xxx

The black SUV rumbled along the highway as Emily sat in the backseat beside her daughter. Kacey hadn't spoken a single word, but she'd made it very clear that she wanted her mother close. They sat as close as the seatbelts would allow. Emily was concerned about her daughter's state of mind, but glad that Kacey seemed to at least be comforted by her presence. "Are you worried about Derek?" she asked the child, stroking a hand over her back. Kacey nodded, but still didn't speak. "It's okay to be worried, and scared," Emily assured her. She leaned in closer, kissing her daughter upon the forehead for the first time in years. "I am, too," she revealed.

Morris turned his head and spoke to Emily from his position in the front passenger's seat. "I really am sorry about hounding you the way I did. I was just trying to do my job, and I stand by my actions."

Emily was grateful that he'd been there to take down Toher for them, but she was still a long way from forgiving him. "I stand by my actions, too," she said.

"Fair enough," he nodded, shifting back around in his seat. Morris pointed out a road sign to Reid, who was in the driver's seat. "You should take this next exit."

"Actually, the GPS claims we're still about an hour away from the exit we want," Reid replied.

"GPS mapping isn't always right," Morris countered. "I've lived here for several years and I know a few shortcuts. It's also a very scenic route."

Reid frowned and looked into the review mirror, trying to catch Emily's eye. She was preoccupied with Kacey, though, and not paying attention to Morris. "I really don't think any of us care about scenery right now. We're all cold and tired, Kacey needs to get cleaned up, Emily should have her leg properly looked at, and Morgan needs his friends close."

"That tech girl is Morgan's friend, right?" Morris pointed out. "She'll be there for him. As for the rest of us, we _will_ be taking this exit."

Emily finally caught the quizzical look Reid was flashing her and heard the tail end of Morris' odd request. "That's not the exit we want," she agreed with Reid.

There was a tense moment of silence before Morris easily reached over and removed Reid's weapon from its holster. He cocked the trigger and pressed the barrel against the driver's temple. "I suggest you do as I say," he informed Reid.

"What the hell are you doing?" Emily asked, protectively pushing Kacey back against the seat and behind her as much as possible. She sat forward a little, pulled her gun and aimed it at Morris. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"There's something I forgot to mention when I gave you that gun back," Morris spoke in an unruffled tone. "I replaced your bullets with blanks."

"You're lying," Emily felt the hairs along her arms stand on end.

He chuckled dryly. "Am I?" Morris taunted. "Go ahead then, shoot me."

"What do you want?" she asked instead of taking him up on his offer, although she was tempted.

"I really wanted to do this about two exits ago," Morris replied nonchalantly as he continued to press the gun against Reid's head. "Now we'll have to do a bit of back tracking, which is somewhat time consuming, but I figure we still have plenty time before they send another search party out for all of you." He stopped long enough to catch the un-amused look on Emily's face. "Oh, did you mean what I wanted in a broader time sense than right this very moment?" he asked. "In that case," Morris stared at Kacey. "I want to take our child back to the woman I love."

Emily's jaw clenched, her gun still poised on Morris. "You were behind this all along, weren't you?" she guessed. "Doris turned that alarm off, but you took Kacey from the house. Then you passed her off to Doris."

Morris grinned. "You're very smart, after the fact," he noted.

Kacey tried to press herself even further against her mother, hiding her eyes, but unable to shield her ears from hearing everything. Emily aimed her gun at Morris' shoulder and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, he'd been telling the truth about the bullets. "Son of a bitch," she whispered under her breath, distracted enough for him to reach out and wrench the gun from her hand.

"The bullets are useless, but I wouldn't want you to bash me over the head," Morris said as he rolled down his window and tossed her weapon into the tall weeds along the side of the highway.

Reid's phone rang, piercing a small hole in the tension. He nearly had it answered when Morris grabbed it and threw it out the window as well. Morris saw the exit coming up fast and jerked the wheel to the right as his gun remained against Reid's temple. "I suggest you do as I say, or you'll become useless to me," Morris made himself clear. "Now, take a right at the stop light and follow that route until I tell you where to go next," he instructed.

Emily had carefully and quietly removed her seatbelt while Morris had been distracted with her gun and Reid. She lunged forward and reached for the gun in Morris's hands, but he'd obviously been anticipating her move, because he slammed it against her forehead. He quickly pulled out his cuffs and secured her hands around the metal bars of his headrest in a matter of seconds. "I won't let you lay a finger on her, Morris. You won't get away with this," Emily warned him.

"Oh, I think I will," Morris replied, a smug grin still perched upon his lips.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

Note: I'm so sorry about the slow updates. It's been a busy summer here, but I'm still working on this. Thank you all for reading!

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 8

By N. J. Borba

* * *

From the SUV's back seat, JJ leaned forward as far as her seatbelt would allow. Hotch was to her left behind the wheel, Rossi on her right in the front passenger's seat. Worry clung to all of their thoughts as the media liaison held her cell phone in one hand. A familiar female voice filtered through the speaker. "_They brought Derek in about ten minutes ago. I barely saw him before they rushed him off to surgery. His eyes were closed and he looked so pale…"_ Garcia sucked in a breath. _"The paramedics said his lung was punctured by the bullet, probably some broken rib bones, too,_" the analyst relayed what little she knew.

"It's good you're there for him," Hotch told her. When JJ had first contacted him and Dave up on the mountain he'd thought for sure they were worrying for no good reason. But after JJ's dozen or so calls to Reid went unanswered he started to put stock in the conclusions Garcia had drawn about agent Morris. Just when he'd been thinking Morris had some redeeming qualities after all.

"_Not like I can do anything to help him_," Penelope felt rather powerless.

The team leader heard a note of despair in her tone and hoped to distract her. "There's definitely something you can do to help. Do you have your laptop with you?"

Garcia scoffed. "_Always_."

"Then I need you to do two things," Hotch began. "Track Reid's cell phone and find out the LoJack frequency on the SUV they're driving. We just left Centerville headed north and we really need a direction to search."

"_Okay, give me a couple seconds to boot up…_"

Rossi aimed his voice toward the phone. "What did you learn about Doris Toher? Anything more about how she escaped from the hospital and police custody?"

"_Agent Masters drove me to the hospital earlier and was telling me that the guard assigned to Doris was found unconscious in his cruiser this morning. He was able to give a fairly good description of the guy who hit him; short and stocky, possibly of Latino decent, dark hair and some sort of cross tattoo on his right arm,_" Garcia explained while running the check on Reid's phone. "_I've got a signal on the cell, bringing it up on a satellite map…_" She took a breath and pinpointed the location for them. "_It's transmitting near north-bound exit 137._"

"Is there a rest stop or something?" JJ questioned. "Maybe one of them just needed to use a bathroom."

"_No,_" Penelope replied. "_There's nothing near that exit for about two miles, which is the closest gas station off the highway._"

"Morris threw the phone out of the car," Rossi concluded. "He must suspect we're already onto him."

Garcia gulped. "_So, what's he going to do?_"

Hotch let his foot rest a little heavier against the gas pedal. "I think it's pretty obvious he was the one who arranged Doris Toher's release. No doubt he's already got a plan in motion to meet up with her, but before that he's trying to recoup what they lost."

"Kacey," JJ added to his theory.

Dave jumped into the thought process as well. "And if what Morris and Doris want is Kacey, then Prentiss and Reid are most likely expendable," he concluded, shaking his head. "Morris and Doris… how come that sounds like some Disney movie about a dog and a cat?"

"_I believe you're thinking of Milo and Otis,_" Garcia answered. "_But that wasn't Disney._"

Normally Hotch didn't mind a bit of lightheartedness to relieve the stresses of their job, but he wasn't very amused at the moment. He was down three team members; one who'd been shot and two kidnapped. Hotch really needed the rest of them to focus on tracking down Morris. "I think it's safe to say that we need a location on that SUV, Garcia," he urged. "And we needed it a half hour ago."

xxx

She looked left. Then right. Emily was keeping careful watch on their surroundings, but only deserted road and trees greeted her in either direction; asphalt shimmering in the dampness of a gentle rain and leafless oak branches. A gunmetal sky loomed above, blanketing the landscape and threatening to give birth to another massive thunder storm. She was still in the back seat and cuffed to the medal headrest bars, but the vehicle was parked alongside the road and another car had come to join them. It was a dark sedan with tinted windows. And the vehicle had been parked conveniently so that a large bush was blocking the license plate.

Emily tugged against her cuffs, thinking surely a headrest couldn't be that difficult to dismantle. It didn't budge, though. She glanced over at her daughter. Kacey was still pressed against Emily's side, tired arms wrapped lazily about her mother's waist. Emily's eyes flicked to Reid in the driver's seat. The young man was cuffed to the steering wheel and Morris had taken the keys. Emily gazed out the window again and watched as Morris stood chatting with a person she couldn't identify. "Reid, you really need to get away from here," she told him.

"That would be great," he promptly agreed. "Do you have a plan for our escape?"

Her eyes softened a little. "I meant _you_, Reid. Morris isn't going to let Kacey go, and I'm not leaving her."

His head shook. "Well, I'm not leaving either of you," Reid let her know. "And in case you missed it…" he tugged at his cuffs.

"I'm pretty sure I can bargain for my life, and sooner or later Morris is going to free you from those cuffs. When he does, all I have to do is create a distraction."

"No."

Emily appreciated his conviction, but she didn't budge. "We don't have time to argue about this. I need you to get away and contact the team."

"Even if I was willing to consider doing this, what sort of distraction do you have in mind?"

"You know that country doctor who stitched me up?" Emily watched him nod for a change. "Well, he made me eat last night. So, trust me, you'll know what the distraction is when it happens. There's a line of trees behind us. You can hide and wait until we're gone. I don't think Morris will go after you. You haven't seen or heard anything that can be used to track him and he has no interest in you."

"And what if he doesn't have any interest in you either?" Reid asked.

"I already told you I have a bargaining chip," she maintained.

He frowned. "All of this sounds too risky."

"If we don't try, you and I could both end up d…" Emily stopped herself from mentioning the words dead or death. Kacey was so quiet that she sometimes forgot the girl was with them, but Emily knew for a fact that her daughter was listening and taking in everything they said. "Reid, please. I need your help."

Reid nodded. "Okay," he finally gave in knowing he'd never stood much of a chance against her.

Doris Toher stepped out of the dark sedan. She and Morris embraced and then walked toward the SUV along with the other person, who was shrouded by a gray hooded sweatshirt. Morris went toward Reid's side of the vehicle. He opened the door, unlocked the cuffs and hauled the doctor out. Reid was pushed against the hood of the car and then hit over the head with the butt of his own gun. With Reid on his knees, Morris motioned for his friend to take the wheel of the vehicle. Then he opened the back door and reached in for Kacey, but the girl clung to Emily. "I don't have time for this," Morris growled.

Kacey squeezed her mother tighter and Emily yanked her hands against the bars again as she whispered reassuringly to her daughter. "It's okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay," she tried hard to believe the words as they escaped her mouth. Emily couldn't help remember the promise she'd made earlier to Morris, about how she'd never let him get his hands on Kacey.

Morris gave up on Kacey for the moment and walked over to Emily's side. He yanked the door open and unlocked her cuffs. Before Emily could even think to use her free hands to fight against the man, he re-cuffed her hands behind her back and had her down on her knees with his gun aimed between her eyes. "We will be taking Kacey with us. There's nothing you can do about that," he let her know; certain of his ability to follow through on the threat. "I was planning to let you and the doctor go, but I get the feeling you'd never stop trying to find me or Kacey. So," he pressed the gun against her forehead. "I hate for it to happen like this," Morris glanced over to see that Kacey was watching everything. "But you leave me no choice."

"I'm pregnant," the words shot out of Emily's mouth. She hated that Reid had been the first to know and now Morris was the second. Emily had told Derek, too, but she didn't even know if he'd heard or understood her. She had to block out all thoughts of Derek, though, and focus on her current predicament. "Are you prepared to kill an unborn baby to achieve your goal?" her words were aimed more toward Doris, hoping to appeal to the mothering side of the woman.

"A baby?" Doris was intrigued.

Morris continued to scowl at Emily. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Emily bent forward and emptied her stomach all over Morris' shoes. She looked up at him. "I'm not sure why they call it morning sickness when it lasts all damn day."

"Son of a…" Morris wrinkled his nose and took a step backward. He looked about ready to kick her in the face.

"Don't hurt her, Paul," Doris put a hand to his wrist. "I know what it's like, the constant queasiness." She looked down at Emily, a smile making her look almost human. "When I was carrying Katie I was so sick I could barely get off the sofa for a month."

At the mention of Katie's name, a sudden softness overcame Morris' stern face. Emily recalled the blonde girl in the picture at Doris' house as she stared into Morris' green eyes. Things finally started making sense to her. She saw her opportunity and seized it. "I'll make a trade with you, this baby's life for Kacey's," Emily's right hand went to her stomach. She felt sick again, but not from food or the tiny fetus swimming around in her uterus. It was guilt for using her unborn child as a pawn.

"I want Kacey," Morris maintained. "She's the one Doris picked and the one I promised her."

"But think about it, Paul," Doris appealed to him. "This child would be ours from birth, to raise together the way we always planned with Katie."

Again Emily watched him relax a little at the mention of Katie's name, pretty much confirming her belief that he was the girl's father. "She's right," Emily bit off the horrible words, thinking only about her and Kacey's survival at the moment. "Kacey won't forget me or her father. It's possible she'll always fight you."

Morris pursed his lips in thought. "If I agree..." he paused, sensing that something was wrong. Morris grabbed Emily and pulled her to her feet. He held her close and walked around the SUV to discover that Reid was gone. He turned to the man in the driver's seat. "Where'd he go?"

"You didn't hire me to babysit," the man shrugged.

Emily silently thanked Reid for getting away as planned, even though Morris clearly wasn't happy. "Find him and get rid of this car," he instructed.

"I ain't getting paid enough for killing nobody," the other man replied.

"Just go after him!" Morris growled.

The happiness Emily had felt suddenly turned sour as she finally got a good look at the man Morris was working with. She really hoped sending Reid away had been the right thing. Morris pushed her back toward Doris; a gun pressed against her neck. Doris had obtained a cloth from the sedan and wiped Emily's mouth with it. It was an indignity that Emily let slide. "Thanks," she actually hoped it might allow her to get on the woman's good side.

"Tell the girl to come along," Morris demanded of Emily. "Kacey will provide insurance. I figure you'll do whatever I want as long as she's with us."

With a motion of her head, Emily beckoned her daughter forward. "Let's go, baby."

Kacey obeyed and Morris escorted them both into the backseat of the other car. Then he tied a dark piece of cloth over Emily's eyes. "Added insurance," he said.

As the car started up, Emily leaned into Kacey and whispered very softly to the girl. "I need you to remember as much as you can about what you see: signs, buildings, numbers, anything. Can you do that for me?" She felt Kacey squeeze her hand in an affirmative answer.

The little girl thought about removing the cloth on Emily's face, but she knew the bad man would get angry. Instead, she did as asked, watching the road for a long time as they traveled. There wasn't much to see, though, mostly just a lot of grass and a few trees. Kacey turned her scanning inside, looking around the car. There was a paper bag by her feet with several items inside. Kacey looked over at the woman in the front seat, remembering her first car ride with the woman. She'd felt helpless then, but not as much now with her mommy by her side. Kacey covertly grabbed a few things from the bag.

xxx

Rossi waded through the tall grass along the highway. He held a gun in his right hand as he approached Hotch. "Looks like Emily's," he informed the team leader. Dave removed the clip. "Also looks like it was fired recently, but it's filled with blanks. And Morris was the last one to have possession of this weapon before returning it to Emily," he concluded.

"I've got Reid's phone," JJ announced, moving toward them from the area she'd been searching.

Hotch was growing more certain of Morris' guilt when his phone chirped. "Garcia, tell me you know where that SUV is," he answered the call.

"_Unfortunately, I discovered that not all FBI issue vehicles have a LoJack feature,_" she paused a second. "_But I tapped into the GPS system and found it that way. It's stopped at a gas station about twenty miles south of where you are. I already contacted the station manager and he said the vehicle was abandoned. Apparently some guy drove it in, but he was picked up a little later by someone else._"

JJ scrolled through Reid's incoming and outgoing calls looking for anything helpful, but most were received calls from her. "Did the manager get a good look at the guy? Could he give a description?"

"_He got something better than a good look,_" Penelope's voice radiated a positive emotion. "_The driver went into the convenience store and bought cigarettes and a soda, so the manager got him on the surveillance tape. He already emailed me a still shot and I'm about to run it through my facial recognition program. You gotta love the digital age._"

"How long before you have something?" Hotch asked.

"_Could take minutes or an hour, or until the end of time if he's not in the system anywhere. But I'm hoping to at least get a DMV hit,_" Garcia let him know.

Hotch nodded. "Okay, we're going to check out the SUV. Any word on Morgan yet?"

Penelope's positivity waned. "_Nope, nada._"

"Call the second you've got anything on this guy, or news on Morgan," the team leader needlessly instructed.

"_Will do,_" she signed off.

The drive south was quiet, all of them hating the fact that they were several steps behind Morris. Their SUV finally pulled to a stop beside the abandoned one. JJ went straight inside to talk to the manager while Rossi and Hotch searched the vehicle. It only took them about a minute before they spotted Reid in the back of the SUV. His wrists were cuffed, his ankles tied with rope and mouth gagged. Hotch removed the gag and Rossi untied the ropes, but there wasn't much they could do about the cuffs without a key or hacksaw. JJ exited the store and rushed to Reid's side. The rattled doctor explained everything that had happened; ending with him being caught by a man whose description sounded a lot like the one Garcia had told them about earlier; the same guy Doris' hospital guard had been bludgeoned by.

"I never should have left them," Reid lamented.

"There was nothing you could have done," JJ insisted.

"Getting away was the right thing to do," Hotch added. His phone rang and he put Garcia on speaker. "We've got Reid," he hoped to put her mind at ease a little with that good news.

"_Oh, thank goodness,_" she breathed a sigh of relief, "_But no Emily or Kacey?_"

"Sorry," Reid whispered.

"_Well, the guy on the tape is Cory Davis…_"

They all perked up upon hearing that critical piece of information. "Isn't that the drug dealer Morris was accusing Emily of being in cahoots with?" JJ asked.

"_Yep, and I just found out that Morris accessed the records on Cory Davis several months ago, rather than two days ago,_" Penelope relayed.

"That bastard has been setting Emily up all along," Dave grumbled.

Hotch was feeling similarly pissed off, but kept it buried. "Garcia, we need to do some digging of our own. Start with Morris' time in St. Louis and work backwards."

"_You got it..._" she clicked away on her laptop, always in her element when information sleuthing was called for. "_Okay, it looks as though Paul Morris has worked mainly with drug trafficking and violent crimes divisions here in St. Louis. He's good at what he does and has a clean record._"

"Dig deeper," Hotch pushed.

"_Oh, don't worry your pretty little head. I will find the dirtiest dirt even if I have to shovel all the way to China,_" she vowed. "_So… in Springfield he also worked to get drugs off the street, and did a short stint in the organized crime division of the bureau. Clean record there, too._"

"What about hobbies?" Rossi questioned.

"_Church._"

JJ glanced at the others, brows furrowed. "Garcia, did you just say church?"

"_I did; Springfield Congregational. There's an online church bulletin that lists Morris several times as an upstanding member and volunteer. I'm also guessing it's where he met Doris Toher, since she's listed as a prominent church member during the years she and Mel lived there._"

"He picked up a married woman at church," Rossi chuckled derisively. "And people chide me for being married three times."

"_This church has got serious money,_" Penelope continued. "_Apparently the church has several remote retreat spots around the country. They also own a Cessna Caravan plane. Paul Morris was one of the pilots that flew it for them, which coincides with what I just found about him being in the Air Force after high school; a necessity in order to pay for college. And he still has a current pilot's license._"

Hotch's teeth clenched. "Does he own a plane?"

"_I haven't found any evidence of that yet. However, I did find Farmington Regional Airport on the map, which is about fifty miles east from where you are now._"

Nothing more was said as the four of them climbed into the SUV and headed east.

xxx

Losing one sense caused her others to become hyper-aware. Emily hadn't needed the use of her eyes to know they'd boarded a plane, flown for several hours, landed and then driven another goodly distance before finally stopping. Unfortunately, she knew that meant they could be just about anywhere. Emily felt Kacey at her side as they exited the car. They walked a short distance in the cold then were hit by a blast of warm air. Emily finally saw light again after Morris tossed her blindfold onto a brown leather sofa in the room where they were standing. "Welcome to your new home," he said, unlocking her cuffed hands but still holding a gun on her.

Doris entered with a brown paper bag in each arm and a duffle bag over her left shoulder. "There's some food, but I'll get you fresher things when I shop tomorrow. Most of the clothes are for Kacey, because we weren't expecting you to stay with us," she looked to Emily. "But I threw a few of my things in there for you."

Emily was amazed by the woman's about-face from the other day. When they'd questioned her, Doris had been on the verge of delusion. Now she appeared relatively stable. It occurred to Emily that prescription drugs were most likely involved. "The windows and doors are wired to an alarm system that will go off instantly if breeched," Morris announced. "The glass is reinforced and sound-proof, so screaming won't do you much good."

"This day keeps getting better and better," Emily sighed.

On that note, Morris and his female partner in crime departed. Emily instantly tried the door. It was locked. She then checked the windows. They all had alarms attached as promised. Kacey shadowed her around the small place. There was a living space with kitchenette, a bathroom and one bedroom. Emily peered out the largest window in the living area, but was greeted by darkness. The sun had already set on another day and Emily resigned herself to the situation, at least for the night so they could rest. She went to the kitchen counter and searched through the food bag.

"Crackers, cookies, juice," Emily placed each item on the counter. "You should eat something," she told Kacey.

The girl climbed atop a bar stool and stared at the items for a moment before reaching for some juice. Kacey ripped the straw wrapper off and was sipping at the beverage as she watched Emily open a box of crackers. Emily found something else in the bottom of the bag. "Cheese in a can… lovely," some of it oozed onto the cracker in her hand. She popped the whole thing into her mouth and chewed. "Okay, that tasted a lot better than it should," Emily suddenly felt hungrier than she had all week. She handed Kacey a cracker with cheese. "You should know I don't cook much, but even I can usually do better than this cheese in a can crap. But I probably shouldn't have just said crap in front of you… twice."

Kacey smiled and ate the cracker. They quickly gobbled several more and then finished off their meal with two chocolate chip cookies each and more juice. When they were done, Emily finally shed Kacey of Derek's kevlar vest and drew a bath for her daughter. She managed to get the girl clean and into pajamas in short order and was feeling rather confident about her mothering skills, aside from the fact that Kacey still wasn't talking to her. Emily also showered, avoiding the bandage on her thigh. Kacey stayed with her the whole time, not letting Emily out of her sight for a single second.

A digital clock in the bedroom read 8:35pm when Emily pulled on Doris' yoga pants and t-shirt, which were both a little too small for her taller, skinnier frame. All she really cared about was that they were clean. Kacey sported flannel pajamas with kittens on them as she crawled into the bed and snuggled up beside Emily. "I really wish you would talk to me, baby," Emily kissed the girl's forehead. "I never wanted to leave you, Kace, but your daddy and I… we just didn't agree on much. And I did some stupid things. I never stopped loving you, though, and I'm going to get you out of this mess."

Kacey aimed her big blue eyes up at Emily. "But I don't want you to die," she whispered.

"What? I'm not going to die," Emily assured her, wishing those hadn't been the first words she'd heard her daughter speak.

"Daddy tried to help me and he died. Then Derek helped me and he died."

"No, Kace… no," Emily shook her head, seeing the pattern her daughter was drawing conclusions from. "That's not how it works at all. I am so sorry about what happened to your daddy, sweetheart, but Derek is not dead."

The girl looked uncertain. "How do you know?"

"Because I have faith," Emily replied.

"What's that mean?"

Emily rested her chin against Kacey's head, recalling the naps she'd taken years ago with her baby girl nestled against her chest. "Faith is... it means believing in something when you can't see it, or hear it or even touch it."

Kacey's whole body relaxed a little. "Like I knew you loved me even when you weren't with me?"

A sob caught in Emily's throat. "Exactly like that."

"I like Derek a lot," Kacey told her mother.

"So do I," Emily agreed, wondering if Morgan's feelings for Kacey were mutual. She was still worried about her future with Derek and what he'd think of her being pregnant. There was a time not so long ago that her feelings had been on par with Kacey's, fearing that everyone who got close to her ended up leaving in some way. After finally letting Derek wiggle his way into her life, she didn't want to lose him, not to death or his fears of being a father.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah," Emily enjoyed hearing Kacey call her mommy.

"What does preg… pregn…" Kacey fumbled with the word. "I don't know how to say it."

Emily took a deep breath. "Pregnant," she supplied, suddenly worried about how Kacey would take the news. "It means I'm going to have a baby."

"Oh," the six-year-old seemed to mull that over for a moment. "Where's the baby now?"

"Right here," Emily took one of Kacey's hands and placed it atop her t-shirt covered belly.

Kacey was confused. "How'd the baby get in there?"

A chuckle erupted from deep within Emily's throat, the first real bit of jovial laughter she'd experienced in the last few days. She ran a hand over Kacey's damp hair. "I think I'll explain those details to you when you're a little older," Emily answered. With Kacey talking she was tempted to quiz the girl on everything she remembered, but Emily decided it could wait until the morning. "You should get some sleep, baby."

"I'm scared to sleep," the child admitted. "Will you sing me the happy birthday song? In your card you said you'd sing, but I never got to hear," Kacey innocently pointed out. "Please sing now, mommy."

Emily listened to the rain beating down heavily against the roof and the wind that was starting to pick up. In three days time her life had been flipped upside down. Singing the happy birthday song actually seemed like the least bizarre thing possible. She was still feeling a little nervous about the reunion with Kacey, but gladly obliged her daughter's wish. "Happy birthday to you…"

xxx

Garcia sat beside Derek, holding his left hand. He'd been brought down from recovery a half hour ago, but hadn't woken up yet.

"The team found a car at that small airport," Penelope relayed what she knew about the search for Emily and Kacey. "And they found another breadcrumb, one of those notes from Kacey about Lulu wanting to go home." She grinned. "That little girl is pretty special, not that I'd expect anything less from a kid with Emily's DNA," she quipped. "Hotch said there was no other sign of them, though. No way to know if they took a plane and no one at the airport to tell them anything. Apparently the air traffic control center for Farmington Regional is in Kansas City… as in, Kansas State. Can you believe that?"

She glanced her friend's way, but Morgan's eyes were still closed. "Well, it takes more than that to stump me," Garcia continued. "I talked to Kansas City and they don't have record of any planes taking off from Farmington today. There was nothing out of the ordinary on their radar either, but radar works best with large all-metal aircraft, not so well on small, composite aircraft. Its range is also limited by terrain and rain or snow and also detects unwanted objects such as automobiles, hills and trees," she rattled off the information, feeling a bit like Reid.

"And if they didn't have their transponder turned on, which is likely given that Morris doesn't want anyone finding them…" Penelope looked over to find Derek's eyes had opened. "Hey, there," she smiled brightly, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

Morgan felt like a concrete block was resting against his chest as he breathed in and out, but his worry resided elsewhere. "Where's Emily?" he asked.

"Uh, she's with Kacey," Garcia told him. It wasn't really a lie. "I'm sure you'll see them both real soon." That was a possible lie, but more of a hope on her part. "You should rest now," she insisted. Penelope felt a little bit guilty as his eyes slid shut again, but she figured being proactive was the best form of repentance. Garcia had her laptop on the search again in a manner of minutes. She was prepared to stay up all night, every night, until they found Emily and Kacey.

* * *

**To be continued…**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

Note: My sincerest thanks to all who continue to support this story with their kind comments and interest. I really appreciate it and hope you'll enjoy this new part.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 9

By N. J. Borba

* * *

Sunlight trickled inside through a break in the curtains above her bed. Actually, it wasn't _her_ bed; Emily corrected herself as she glanced over to make sure Kacey was still beside her. It was the one and only bed in the cage Morris had tossed them in. Granted, it was a gilded cage, but a prison nonetheless. The digital clock revealed it to be almost noon, meaning they'd both slept for over twelve hours. Emily hadn't wanted to fall asleep. She'd sung to Kacey and watched the girl sleep for a long time, but the pull had finally been too great to resist. After the day's ordeal and the tiny energy-zapping life form in her belly, sleep had washed over her tired body like the warm embrace of a lover. Now, with sleep renewed senses, Emily was extremely hungry.

"You know what sounds good, kiddo?" she asked, rolling over to face her daughter. "Pancakes for breakfast."

Kacey grinned, sleepily. "I want chocolate milk and peaches."

Emily regarded the little girl, brows raised. "Why peaches and chocolate milk?"

"Daddy made it for breakfast one time."

"I guess I don't have to worry about living up to much in the parental culinary department," Emily chuckled.

The girl remained serious, though. "One weekend when Molly and Ms. Turner left, Daddy said he would fix me breakfast and that's what we had, chocolate milk and peaches," Kacey explained. "I miss daddy."

A soft kiss was pressed against Kacey's forehead as Emily smiled sympathetically. "I know you do, baby," she was glad to hear that Lucas hadn't been a completely inattentive father. Kacey had clearly loved him.

"Derek said when we got down the mountain he'd get me chocolate milk and peaches. He promised."

"And I'm sure he meant to keep that promise, Kace," Emily's curiosity about Derek's feelings for her daughter were somewhat comforted by the fact that Kacey only seemed to have good things to say about him.

"But he got hurt," Kacey remembered. "Not dead, just hurt, right?"

"That's right," Emily assured her.

"Derek told me he likes dogs and zebras."

"Zebras? Really?"

The child nodded. "Yep, he said they were black and white, but nobody thought they were different."

Tears pricked Emily's eyes and she instantly blamed the baby hormones coursing through her body. "It sounds like you and Derek…" a wave of nausea halted her words. She closed her eyes and tried to mentally ward it off, but it wasn't working and she rushed to the bathroom. Her stomach lurched and brought up most of the previous night's meal. "Ugh," she groaned, kneeling in front of the toilet. Emily silently cursed Derek's genetics, and all food.

"Are you okay, mommy?" Kacey stood in the bathroom doorway a few minutes later, looking in.

"I'm fine," Emily let her know. "But I don't think the baby liked that cheese last night."

A frown formed on Kacey's face at the mention of the baby. She quickly changed the subject. "Can I have Fruit Loops for breakfast?"

Emily got to her feet and went to the sink. She rinsed her mouth and splashed warm water on her cheeks. Then she dried off with a soft towel, noticing the small bruise on her forehead where Morris had clocked her. She finally turned to Kacey. "I think all we have left are crackers and juice."

"But there's Fruit Loops on the counter. I sawed them a minute ago."

"You _saw_ them," Emily corrected her as she exited the bathroom. When they approached the kitchen, sure enough, Emily spotted the cereal on the counter. There were two other boxes, granola and Cheerios. Also there were fresh bananas and apples. And when Emily went to the fridge and opened it, she found a container of milk, some orange juice, eggs and yogurt.

"Can I have these?" Kacey had already climbed up onto the stool and was holding the box of fruity cereal. "Please?"

Emily nodded, although she felt horribly violated knowing that Morris or his female counterpart had been inside while they were sleeping. Not that she should have been surprised. They had no rights, and obviously no privacy. She tried to let that go and create some sort of semblance of normalcy for Kacey's sake. Emily grabbed two bowls and searched for silverware. The third drawer she opened was filled with only spoons. She sighed and retrieved two of them. Emily guessed their hosts were worried about sharp utensils, but apparently they weren't as concerned about being spooned to death.

They each ate a banana and two bowls of cereal. Kacey had Fruit Loops both times. Emily ate Cheerios and then granola. She wasn't sure how it was possible to throw up one minute and be so hungry the next. When they finished, Emily directed Kacey into the bedroom to get dressed. She hoped there might be something more than yoga pants in the duffle bag for her to wear, but Emily quickly realized there was no duffle bag. And the clothes she'd been wearing before were missing, as well as her shoes and the kevlar vest. Emily went to the closet, pushed one door open and discovered shelves filled with new clothes. One side held things for Kacey while the other housed a few items for her, mostly more sweats and t-shirts, but also some new underwear still in the package.

Bringing food into the kitchen was one thing, but knowing someone had been in the bedroom while they'd been sleeping really pissed Emily off. Mostly she was angry with herself for not having heard a thing. "Mommy, its Monday." Kacey's voice brought Emily back to reality and she looked to the calendar on the wall beside the closet that Kacey was pointing at. "I go to school on Monday."

"Then we should do something school related," Emily helped Kacey pick out clothes and they both got dressed. Out in the kitchen again, Emily riffled through a bag Doris had left. She pulled out a pad of paper and crayons. They were the only writing implements she could find. As she flipped through the pad, Emily noticed part of a sheet was missing. She opened the crayon box and could see the blue crayon had been worn down a little. "Did you use these?"

"In the car yesterday," Kacey nodded.

A smile curled Emily's lips. "Did you write a note and leave it somewhere?"

Kacey nodded again. "In the car. I thought Derek would find it and find us. Was that wrong?"

"No, Kace, you did great." Emily leaned forward, kissed Kacey on the cheek and then selected a red crayon from the box. She propped herself against the counter. "First thing for our school day, we're going to play a memory game."

"How?"

"I need you to tell me everything you remember from yesterday after Morris put the blindfold on me." Emily thought it was rather stupid of Morris not to have covered Kacey's eyes as well. He'd been on the case all along and knew Kacey's penchant for remembering things, like the address that had gotten them to Toher's house. Not that she could complain considering his mistake had been to her advantage.

Kacey stuck her tongue out a little, as if it were a necessary memory conjuring device. "There was trees and grass at first, and the road. Then I wrote the note," Kacey reached out and flipped to the back of the pad where there were some pictures drawn. "Then I made the ladybugs and the dog. I didn't watch the road for a while."

"That's okay, what else can you remember?" Emily pressed forward. "Did you see any signs before we got on the plane?"

"Something that said farm on it," Kacey recalled.

"Farm…" Emily had lived in St. Louis for a few years and still knew the area fairly well. "Farmington airport," she concluded, writing it down. "What about the plane? Can you remember the color, or any numbers on the side?" Emily could see the puzzled look on her daughter's face, so she took Kacey's hands. "Close your eyes, Kace, and remember what it felt like being there. It was cold when we got out of the car…"

"I shivered and held your hand where it was tied behind your back," Kacey remembered. "The bad man pushed us forward and up the steps. The plane was small and yellow with green numbers on it," she said.

"What numbers?"

"289."

Emily wrote them down. "Any letters?"

"Just a D. It was before the numbers. The plane was small inside, not like the plane when daddy took me to Disney World for my birthday."

"What did you see when we were in the air?"

"Trees, hills… then everything was white for a long time."

"Clouds?"

"I think so, and then mountains, big ones with snow on them. When we landed it was dark and I saw lights on the road."

"What kind of lights? Street lights or lights inside stores? Or maybe houses with porch lights?"

"Um… not a busy street and then houses. Then a light came on when we got out of the car here. I saw the numbers and letters on the car. BLK 773," Kacey opened her eyes and looked at her mother. "Was that good? I remembered the BL because it's kind of like blue and K for Kacey. And I remember the D on the plane because of daddy and Derek. But I'm better at remembering numbers."

"That was excellent," Emily assured her.

The child didn't look too pleased, though. "I wanna go to my real school now, mommy. I want to see my friends. Josh sits at my table, he gets in lots of trouble, but he's funny. And Molly takes me to swimming lessons on Monday. I want to go swimming," she pouted.

"Kacey, you can't go swimming today. And you can't go to school."

"I want to go swimming. I don't wanna be here!" Kacey's voice raised several octaves. "You said you'd help me get away from the bad man. I want to see Molly, and I want my own bed and I want Emily back. I want to go home, but I want you there too. I want you and daddy, and…"

Emily watched her daughter's lower lip quiver. "Kacey…" the little girl fled before Emily could say anything else. She followed Kacey into the bedroom and found her face down on the bed. Emily sat beside her, resting a hand against the girl's back. Kacey cried that way for a while. "Kace, I'm sorry you can't do any of those things," Emily whispered. "And I'm so sorry about your daddy. I'm sorry I can't fix any of it for you right now."

Kacey turned her head. "I miss Emily the most."

"But I'm right here, baby," Emily let her know.

"You're not Emily, you're mommy," Kacey cracked a smile. "Emily is my ladybug, the one I gave to Derek to help him. Do you think he still has her?"

Understanding dawned, causing Emily to smile a little, too. "I don't know, baby. I hope so, because that was really sweet of you giving Emily to him like that." Kacey sat up and crawled onto her mother's lap. "I think you should have a swimming lesson in the bathtub later," Emily suggested, hoping to further bolster her daughter's spirits. "What do you think about that?"

"It won't be the same."

"No, it won't. But we can pretend. And we can do some more school things. I can teach you," Emily offered.

"What?"

"Well… we could write a poem," Emily had no idea why that had been the first thing to slide out of her mouth, but she was doing her best to keep Kacey's mind off the fact that they were stuck in a rather small space for an indefinite time. She took the girl's hand and guided Kacey off the bed and back to the kitchen counter, which was the only place for her to sit with a table-like surface.

"What's a poem?" Kacey asked, wiping her tear-streaked cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Poems are stories, short stories… well, sometimes they're not so short," Emily explained. "Let's see if I can remember one for you… _Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate_…" she recited the whole thing. "_So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee_. That's a sonnet by Shakespeare."

Kacey's scrunched up face revealed her confusion before the words did. "I don't understand."

"Yeah…" Emily nodded. "Maybe we should start you off with something a little simpler than that. Why don't you give me three words and I'll use them in a poem. How does that sound?"

"Can blue be one of the words? And dog?"

"Sure," Emily wrote them down. "One more," she prompted.

"Play."

Emily started off with, "The dog was feeling blue; he didn't know what to do…" It took her a few more seconds to figure out how to end it. "He decided to play for a while, and that made him smile," she finished.

Kacey giggled. "I like your poem lots better than the other one. It was funny. Can I make my own poem? I think I'd use my name in it and say… Kacey likes to eat things that are tasty," she dissolved into giggles, laughing at her own words.

Laughter bubbled up from Emily's chest. It felt great to laugh with her daughter. "Are you sure you _just_ made that up?"

"Yep," Kacey nodded. "And I made up this one, too… My friend Billy is very silly, he only likes to go outside when it's chilly," a huge belly laugh escaped her lips.

The smile on Emily's face grew bigger as she interacted with her daughter. It felt almost like a dream to think about the girl that had barely been walking and talking the last time she'd seen her and who was now smart, funny and full of life. There'd been many times over the last five years in which Emily had doubted her ability to be a good mother. But making up silly sayings with the girl, and doing her best to protect her from Morris, Emily knew that was the most any parent could do for their child under the circumstances. "You're already too good at this, kiddo. We'll have to do something else, like math."

"I like math," Kacey replied, undaunted. "I know how to count by five's, do you wanna hear me?"

"Go for it."

"Five, ten, fifteen…" the girl started off, but she didn't get very far when the door to their apartment, for lack of a better term, was breeched.

Doris Toher quickly stepped in and closed the door behind her. She was carrying a canvas shopping bag in one hand and sat it down on the counter. Kacey got down and moved around to stand behind Emily in the kitchen. "I forgot to bring in a few things when I left the food and clothes this morning," Doris spoke, waving a hand at the bag. "Tooth brushes, bandages for your leg and some vitamins for you," she looked to Emily. "They're prenatal ones, and… um… Paul would like you to take the pregnancy test that's also in the bag. He said he needs real proof."

"Yeah? Well, I need to see a _real_ doctor," Emily replied. "For my leg and to make sure the baby is okay."

The other woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, we can't do that. Paul said it's too much risk that someone will see you or us. We're all over the news."

"Maybe because you abducted us. That's not exactly legal, which means people put your names on the news and try to track you down," Emily spat. She took a deep breath, trying not to let her anger take over. "Doris," she intentionally used the woman's first name. "If you let us go now I'm sure we can make some kind of deal."

"The deal is that you give us the baby and we let you and Kacey go," Doris said, backing away toward the door.

Emily followed the woman. "You're not really that naïve, are you?" She watched Doris place one hand against the door knob. "You think he's going to just let us go once he gets this baby?" Emily pressed in on her until Doris opened the door. It was what she'd been hoping for and Emily tried to muscle her way past Doris and out the door, but a distinctive clicking sound stopped her. A gun barrel was pressed against her temple as Morris stepped around the corner. "Shit," Emily mumbled.

"Get back inside," Morris calmly relayed his order, waving the gun to indicate the direction he wanted Emily to travel. "Over by the bedroom door," he walked in front of her as she moved backward. "Doris, return to the house," he called over his shoulder.

"Don't hurt her," Doris implored.

"Go back to the house," his voice was more emphatic, but still rather calm. He waited until Doris was gone and then turned away from Emily, stalking toward Kacey who was still in the kitchen. He scooped the girl up with one arm.

"No! Mommy!" Kacey screamed and fought against the man's hold on her.

"Kacey!" Emily made a move toward her daughter and Morris, but he waved the gun at her, warding her off. "Please," she felt sick begging him, but there was little other choice. "We had a deal and I'm sorry I tried to go against that. Just put Kacey down and I'll…"

"No," he cut her off. "Kacey is going to spend some time with Doris and I. I'll be back later. If the test is positive then I'll return Kacey to you and our deal will be back on. And you'll follow all of my rules."

He went to the door, opened it, slipped through quickly with Kacey and then closed it right behind them. Emily rushed to the door, beating furiously against it. But she was too late, having already heard the electronic hiss of the door locking automatically. She'd briefly seen the numeric key pad on the exterior of the door. There was nothing she could do except curse herself for being stupid, and kick the wall beside the door until a rather sizable hole had formed.

xxx

Derek groaned as he struggled to sit up, his oxygen line getting pinched in the process. He wouldn't dare admit to the pain, but every muscle he moved ached. Once he was in a somewhat comfortable position he pushed the blanket off his legs and swung them over the side of the bed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Garcia's voice greeted his ears.

"I need to use the bathroom," Morgan lamely tried to cover up his escape attempt.

Penelope got out of the reclining chair where she'd dozed off for a few minutes. "That's what the catheter is for," she made her way to the bed. "Now get your sexy legs back up there or I'll call that nurse in here," Garcia warned, knowing that he already hated being in the hospital after less than twelve hours. Neither one of them had slept well the night before. He'd finally woken long enough to realize she'd been lying to cover the fact that Emily and Kacey were missing. Since then she'd been having a heck of a time getting him to stay put. "You know the doc said at least thirty-six hours bed rest. Do you think stitched up lungs heal by moving around and breathing heavy? Not that I'd mind getting you into a position where breathing heavy was involved, of course Emily'd probably kill me," she winked, tucking the blanket back around his legs.

He glared at her. "Baby girl, if I didn't love you so much I'd punch you."

"You hit her and I'll be sure that doctor assigns you _72_ hours of bed rest," Hotch said as he entered the room mid-way through Derek's unlikely threat. JJ, Rossi and Reid trickled in behind their team leader.

"Thank goodness the cavalry has arrived," Garcia quipped, smiling to see her friends, even though she could tell by the solemn looks on their faces that there was still no news about Emily and Kacey.

Morgan took a few deeps breaths, testing his repaired respiratory system. His eyes rested upon Hotch for a moment. "Like you'd be able to sit still if the woman and child you loved were in danger," his voice was laced with concern.

The room fell silent for a minute as the team digested Morgan's words. All of them had discovered Derek and Emily's relationship in the last few days, but they were surprised by his use of the word love. Derek Morgan was a lot of things, but the kind of guy to settle down with a wife and kids had never been one of them. "We're going to find them," Hotch said with upmost sincerity.

"Yeah," Derek sighed. "I've said that so many times before to victim's families, never thought I'd be on this side of it, though."

"Since you've been on that side, you know we always mean it," Rossi offered.

"And we always do our best," JJ added.

One side of Derek's mouth curled in a half smile as he nodded. He'd always been a bit of a Lone Ranger, but Morgan tried to rein in that desire and looked to his team for answers. "What do we know?"

Hotch did most of the run down, with Rossi and JJ jumping in from time to time. The only one who kept quiet was Reid. Everyone knew he was still upset about what had happened with Emily and having to leave her. Derek offered up his own words of comfort for the younger man. "Emily would have stolen all the glory from you anyhow, Rambo," he teased. "She's probably kicking Morris' butt as we speak."

"Emily might not be so willing to fight back," Spencer replied.

"Of course she will," Derek insisted.

Reid mashed his lips. "I'm just saying, she's probably worried about the safety of her child," his words were chosen carefully.

Morgan furrowed his brow, eyeing the genius. "Which is why she'll fight… for Kacey," he felt confident in the fact.

A blank look graced Reid's features for a moment as he wondered how much he should reveal to his friend. It didn't feel quite right, him telling Derek about his impending fatherhood. But he knew it needed to be said. "Kacey's not the child I was talking about. Emily is pregnant," he finally spit the words out. "Right before I ran off she was making a deal with Morris." He hesitated a second before finishing. "She told him he could have the baby in exchange for Kacey."

Quiet engulfed the room again, no one knowing how to respond to that news. It didn't last long, though, pierced by the ring of JJ's phone. They all listened to a very short one-sided conversation. She disconnected. "A man in Farmington just called the hotline I set up last night, claims he saw a plane taking off from the airport yesterday at about the time Morris would have been there."

"You and Dave go talk to the guy. If we could figure out what direction they were heading that would be a huge help," Hotch suggested. They left right away and the team leader turned to Garcia. "Did you have any luck on those church retreat locations?"

"One of the congregation members, Abe Holden, emailed me a list of addresses first thing this morning. I already contacted the nearest field offices and agents are being sent to check out all eight locations. Most of them are to the north, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois… even one in Canada."

Hotch shook his head a little. "Morris is an idiot for flying blind, but I doubt he'd risk leaving the country. My gut's telling me he's still in the states somewhere." His phone rang and the conversation was completed in thirty seconds. "Cory Davis was just arrested in Springfield, Illinois. Reid and I will check it out." Hotch's eyes flicked to Morgan as he edged toward the door. "You'll stay put for 36 hours or I will not hesitate to suspend you."

As Hotch and Reid were walking out, Molly Conner slipped inside the room. "I was just about to knock," she let them know.

"Molly," Garcia greeted her warmly. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to call you last night after he got out of surgery," she turned to Derek. "Molly was here yesterday asking about you."

"That's okay," Molly said. "I figured you'd all be busy and I called to find out Mr. Morgan was alright."

"It's Derek," Morgan offered, spotting the stuffed ladybug she had in her hands. "You've got Emily." His emotions were still scattered on the wind after Reid's announcement, but he tried to focus on something positive. Kacey loved that ladybug a great deal. Somehow, seeing the toy gave him hope that he'd see Emily and Kacey soon.

"And you washed her," Garcia noticed.

Molly smiled. "Yeah, I have a friend who works at a local dry cleaner's. I told him about everything that happened and he cleaned it for me, free of charge." she stepped forward and handed it to Derek. "I thought you could hang on to it for Kacey. Maybe that's silly, but…"

"It's not silly," Morgan shook his head. "Thank you for this." He stroked the fuzzy red and black fabric. "Is her picture still inside?"

The young woman's face lit up. "If Kacey told you about the picture she must really like you. She's such a sweet, loving child, but she's very guarded about who she lets into her life."

Penelope chuckled softly. "Sounds a lot like her mother." And a stubborn member of the male species who was sitting in the hospital bed beside her.

"This might sound stupid, too, but I'm glad they're together. I'm praying that they're found soon, but Kacey has wanted nothing more than to meet her mother for as long as I've known her." She pointed toward Emily the ladybug. "I took the photo out while it was being cleaned, but its back in there now. I also wanted to let you know Mr. Donovan will be buried this Friday. His brothers have already asked me to move out, so I'll be staying with a cousin until the end of the school year." She handed Garcia a piece of paper. "That's my address and phone number. When you find Kacey I'd be grateful if you let me know."

"Of course," Garcia walked the girl to the door. When she turned back, Morgan's eyes were trying to bore a hole through her.

"Do you think it's true?" he asked.

She instantly knew what he was talking about and hurried back to her laptop. Garcia pulled up the BAU medical insurance archives, from there she found Emily's doctor listed and surfed her way to the hospital server. She hacked it in less than five minutes and pulled Emily's chart. Her eyes scanned the files and then rose to meet with Derek's. "Congratulations, daddy. I mean… I'm assuming you're…"

"She didn't tell me," Morgan sighed. "Not that I gave her much incentive to tell me." He looked to Garcia. "What's the definition of insanity?"

Penelope was surprised by the odd question, but scrambled to answer. "I know this one… doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

"Exactly," he nodded. "Circumstances in my life have made me guarded, I don't trust easily and I constantly pull away from serious relationships. But Emily, she…"

"Broke the mold?"

He smiled. "Yeah, something like that. I'm not making the same mistakes this time, Garcia. I love her, and I love Kacey. And I'm ready to walk through that burning building with both of them at my side."

"Then we should probably try to find them," Garcia grinned.

"Hard to find a person if you're stuck in a bed."

"Not if you have a laptop and the world's best hacker at your disposal," she pointed both fingers at herself. "If there's something to be found, you know I'll find it."

xxx

Emily spent her afternoon glancing out all of the windows, concluding she was stuck in a detached garage. The main house stood across a grassy yard. It was two stories, double gable roof, painted yellow with white trim and green shutters. She could see out three sides of the small apartment, but not the back. Emily assumed there was an alley out back, because she could see a fence on either side of the yard and figured they were in some sort of neighborhood. Also, Doris had mentioned going to get them food yesterday and had fulfilled that promise in the morning hours, which meant a store was fairly close. She documented everything in the notebook.

"Not that any of it will do me a damn bit of good if I have no phone or any other fucking way to contact anyone," she growled, glad that Kacey wasn't around to hear her swear. The only technology they had in the apartment was a digital clock and a television. Unless she could figure out how to send out an S.O.S. using a remote control, she was pretty well screwed.

She was searching the bedroom for any sort of camera or listening device Morris might have planted when the outside door opened and closed. Her search was stopped in the hopes that Kacey was back, but she only spotted Morris when she entered the main room. Emily kept her mouth shut, not wanting to piss him off any more than she already had. She silently walked to the bathroom, retrieved the pregnancy test and returned the living room. Morris took it from her.

"Positive," he read the plus sign. "I guess you get to live."

"And Kacey?"

"Kacey is fine," he said, walking back to the door. Morris carried a large metal box inside. He went to the small closet beside the kitchen. There was a hot water heater in there and she watched as he chained the metal box to it. Then he brandished another shiny metal object that had been attached to the box. The chunky bracelet was locked around her left ankle before Emily realized what it was.

She'd seen one before when helping to transfer a man being put under house arrest. "Great," Emily mumbled.

"The ankle bracelet alarm will go off if you get more than 75 feet away from the transmitter box. Seventy-five feet should allow you free reign around this apartment, but if you step outside again I'll know about it instantly." He moved toward the front door.

"When are you bringing Kacey back?" Emily kept her voice civil, even though she wanted to claw his eyes out. He didn't answer her and exited the apartment. Emily gnashed her teeth and paced, testing the bracelet's range. She wasn't at it for more than five minutes when the door opened and Kacey came bounding into the room.

"Mommy!" the girl yelped with excitement as she wrapped her arms around Emily. "I missed you."

Emily smoothed both hands over Kacey's hair and kissed her forehead. "I missed you too, baby. Are you okay?"

"Yep," Kacey replied. "I played Candy Land with Doris. I beat her twice. It's kinda a boring game, though. I like to play checkers and Doris said she'd buy me a checkers game. Isn't that nice?"

It took all the restraint Emily had just to nod her head and bite her tongue. She knew it would take more than games to win Kacey over, but the girl seemed happy about her time with the other woman and Emily wasn't amused. "Are you sure you're okay, they didn't hurt you at all?"

"Nope," Kacey looked up. "Mommy, I'm sorry I was mad this morning about school and swimming."

"It's forgotten, baby," Emily held her close. "And we still have time for a swimming lesson today."

Kacey was elated. She stripped down to her underwear and t-shirt, a pretend bathing suit, as Emily filled the tub. Emily used the opportunity to covertly check Kacey's body for bruises or cuts… anything to indicate Morris had hurt her. Thankfully, she found nothing. "Am I swimming, mommy?" Kacey splashed around on her stomach, not going anywhere.

"Yep," Emily smiled. "But why don't you try floating," she suggested, hoping for a lot less water on the floor. Emily helped the girl lay on the water's surface, keeping her hands under Kacey until the girl was ready to float on her own. The swimming lasted another half hour after that. "Kacey," Emily put on a serious face as she toweled her daughter off. "If anyone ever tries to grab you again I want you to pretend like you're floating."

"You do?" Kacey was confused.

Emily nodded. "I want you to relax your whole body so you're like a piece of spaghetti; slippery and hard to hold on to. And if that doesn't work then I want you to kick the bad guy right here," she pointed between her legs. "That will hurt a boy really bad." Emily was utterly disgusted by the fact that she was teaching her six-year-old self defense tactics. But it was necessary.

They ate scrambled eggs, apple slices and orange juice for dinner then curled up on the sofa watching TV. Emily's attention diverted to the hole she'd made in the wall and an idea formed in her head. "Kacey, I think there might be a way to get out of here, but it's going to take some time. Do you think you can be strong for me and stay here a little bit longer?"

"Can I go swimming every day?" Kacey asked.

"Sure," Emily agreed, wishing every major life decision could be so easily negotiated.

xxx

Hotch entered Derek's room as the sun was setting; shades of gold and orange shimmering across the polished hospital floor. He got straight to the point. "Davis claims that Morris flew to Michigan where he killed Emily and Kacey and dumped them in the lake. He said Morris was too rattled by all the press and had to get rid of them."

"He's obviously lying," Derek instantly shot back.

"Maybe," Hotch wasn't as convinced. "The agents sent to Benton Harbor reported that a neighbor saw a boat out on the water late last night."

"That doesn't mean a damn thing, Lake Michigan is always crowded with boats," Morgan protested, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm going with you," he succeeded in standing this time.

"Not many boats go out in the middle of November, Morgan," the team leader countered, looking to Garcia. "You'll stay here with him," he instructed. "The rest of us are flying to the scene tonight," Hotch eyed Derek. "You're not going with us."

"Hotch, man… come on," Morgan had heard the word: scene, and it ripped his heart out.

"I'm sorry," Hotch stood his ground. He exited without another word.

Morgan's jaw clenched as he spotted a tear rolling down Garcia's cheek. "No!" he shook his head at her. "Don't you give up on them, baby girl. Don't you dare." He swung a hand wildly to one side, sending his dinner tray sailing across the room. "They're not dead," he told Penelope. Derek slumped back down on the bed and snatched up Emily the ladybug. He clung to the toy and fished out Kacey's picture. Their happy faces shined back at him. "They're not dead."

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 10

By N. J. Borba

* * *

"Thank you for mommy, and pumpkin pie and fruit loops and Thanksgiving… and maybe someday I can have a doggie. Amen," Kacey concluded her prayer.

Emily couldn't help smile at her daughter's thankful list, even though she wasn't sure how she felt about the child attending a Catholic school and being raised in that faith. She certainly still had her issues with organized religion, but mostly Emily hated that it was another aspect of Kacey's life that she'd had no say in. "Time for bed now," Emily announced from her side of the queen-sized bed that they shared.

The girl jumped to her feet. "But I'm not tired and I wanna play with the ladybugs," Kacey said. "Please, mommy. Just for a little while."

"You're not tired because someone let you have pie and fruit loops for desert," Emily pointed out. "I'm still not very good at this mommy business."

Kacey grinned. "You're the best," she insisted.

"You only say that because you want me to let you stay up," Emily guessed.

"No," her head shook. "Because you're funny and smart, and I love you," Kacey declared.

Emily's bedtime command was further stalled as she placed a hand against her still-flat abdomen. "Do you think I'll be a good mommy to the new baby, too?"

The six-year-old backed away from the bed and made a move toward the nearby dresser. She scooped up the items that were resting on the edge and walked back to the bed, dropping them beside her mother. "I decided on names," Kacey said. She grabbed the biggest one and held it out. "This is Derek," she declared.

Emily examined the painted rocks, noting that Kacey had once again successfully avoided talking about the baby. Since their first night of captivity, when Kacey had asked about the baby, she'd gotten very good at ignoring or changing the topic whenever Emily brought up the subject. Emily wasn't sure if it was something she needed to worry about or not. But at the moment, the two of them still had plenty of other things to worry about.

It had been close to two weeks since they'd been taken by Morris and locked up. They liked to call it an apartment, but it was really a prison cell. Kacey had reluctantly resigned herself to the situation, having protested loudly at first. But even in complacent mode, she _was_ only six years old, which led to a lot of wall climbing. Almost literally some days. Emily had done her best to keep Kacey engaged in activities, mostly school, some games, minimal television and a few attempts at art projects.

Their favorite project had been the ladybug rocks. Doris had easily complied with their wish for a paint set, but the request for rocks had taken a few days. Finally their jailors presented them with some nearly pebble-sized rocks that wouldn't do much damage against reinforced glass. They'd all been painted red with black spots. She and Kacey had even started to refer to them as a family. "And this one is Emily," the girl placed another rock beside the Derek-rock. "I think they love each other."

"In that case," Emily selected one of the four remaining rocks. "I think this one should be named Kacey," she proclaimed. "And the smallest one can be the baby, but it doesn't have a name yet. Are there any names you'd like to pick out for the baby?"

Kacey eyed the smallest rock, but she didn't say anything about it. She picked up the other two. "And these are their pets, a dog named Zebra and a kitty named Blue."

Emily grinned at her daughter's choice of names, though she was still a little unsure about the baby avoidance. "Okay, I think the family is going to sleep now. You need to put them back," she instructed. Emily watched as the girl did so. She took her time, carefully placing each rock back on the dresser. Kacey even kissed them all and told them goodnight, one by one, except for the baby ladybug rock.

The two of them were snuggled under the covers minutes later. Kacey turned to Emily. "Mommy, tomorrow is the plan day, right?"

"Well…" Emily drew her daughter closer. "It was supposed to be the plan day, but we can't go now because I still have the bracelet on." Her goal had been to win Morris' trust enough to get him to take the monitoring anklet off, but Emily didn't think that was ever going to happen.

"But I remembered everything, and I know what to do. I can do the plan," Kacey said.

"Not by yourself, baby."

"Yes, I can," Kacey insisted. "I can run fast just like you said, and I know all the numbers to tell. I know not to go to a house because it's safer to go somewhere with lots of people, like a mall or grocery store."

A contemplative sigh escaped Emily's lips. She'd been plotting an escape plan since the first day of their internment. Emily had also been watching the news. Three children's bodies had been found in the Mark Twain National Forest. Two bodies meant to be her and Kacey had supposedly been tossed into Lake Michigan, but neither had been found. And the BAU team had been recalled to Quantico after several days with no leads. The most important tidbit of news for Emily had been that Derek was alive. She knew that he'd keep looking, even if he had to resign to do so. She believed that with a faith deeper than any religion. Of course, the other day she'd also believed that a peanut butter sandwich would taste good with fruit loops. Her instincts had been correct then, too, but probably a lot skewed due to the baby making hormones coursing through her veins. All of that aside, she knew they needed to get away from Morris.

"I really could do it, mommy," Kacey said again.

Emily kissed her daughter's forehead. "I know you could, baby."

They fell asleep shortly after that, but Emily's sleep was fitful. It was plagued by horrible dreams of Morris hurting Kacey, and he and Doris running off with her baby in their arms. At 4am she finally sat up, giving up on sleep. It was still dark out and quiet. There was no rain, no wind. Emily glanced over at Kacey who was still asleep and her mind was suddenly made up. She got out of bed and bustled around the place, gathering a few things and laying them out. As she worked, Emily kept telling herself it was the perfect day because hordes of crazy people would be out trying to track down a bargain after yesterday's Thanksgiving feasts. Best of all, though, they'd be doing it earlier in the morning. And the thick fog outside would give good cover to sneak away unseen.

At a quarter to five, Emily roused her sleeping child. "Kace," she gently ran her fingers down the girl's cheek. "Kacey, wake up, sweetheart."

"Mommy?"

"You need to get up." And she needed to get up fast, because Emily was sure she'd chicken out if given half a change to slow down. "I laid out some clothes for you. Put the leggings on under the jeans, and wear both sweaters. I'm going to make you eggs for breakfast."

"I want fruit loops."

"You need eggs for protein, now get changed quickly."

By five o'clock Emily was watching as Kacey ate all of her breakfast. She was pretty sure Kacey sensed that something was going on and that it would be best to do everything as told. After the eggs had been cleaned from her plate, Emily sat her down on the bed and put a pair of cotton socks on her feet, tucking them under her leggings. Then she layered two more pairs of socks over them. "You don't have shoes and the ground will be cold."

Kacey aimed her big blue eyes up at Emily. "The plan?" she asked.

"Yes," Emily replied. She used one of her long sleeved shirts and tied it into a sling across Kacey's body. Then she tucked a package of crackers in there with a banana and a juice box. Emily tied another shirt around Kacey's head, making sure it covered her ears like a hat.

She went to the bed and pulled it away from the back wall. There was already a large hole there, from one stud to another, and just low enough to still be covered by the bed's headboard. She'd removed all the wallboard and insulation, wrapped them in a sheet and hid them under the bed. Thankfully Doris had left all the cleaning chores up to her and Kacey, so she'd never seen a thing. The hard part would be breaking through the exterior wall. Cedar shake siding wouldn't cause much of a hole, but the problem was the plywood sheathing, which would come off in a large section. It was a risk she had to take.

With pillows shoved into the hole and pressed against the exterior portion of the wall, Emily sat on her butt, braced herself, and kicked as hard as she could. The sound was muffled and she kicked again. It took several more concentrated bursts of power, but the wall finally gave way, hanging on by a thread of vapor barrier. When she looked to the other side, Emily was elated to see a fence at the rear of the structure. It would hopefully hide the damage she'd just done. Emily rushed to the large window in the living area and peeked out, seeing if any lights had come on in the house. The house looked completely still, though.

Emily returned to the room and found Kacey standing by the hole in the wall. She had one of the ladybug rocks in her hand. Emily kissed her and hugged her, holding on for a long time. "I can do it, mommy," Kacey finally said.

The words didn't instill confidence into Emily; they made her rethink the whole crazy idea for a moment. When the moment passed, she used the fear in her gut to propel her forward. "I love you, baby," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"I love you, mommy," Kacey whispered back.

When Kacey was through Emily pushed the bed back into place over the interior hole. She went to the side window and slid the curtains back, watching as Kacey took off running down the graveled alley. Due to the heavy fog, Kacey was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Emily closed her eyes. "I know I haven't done this in a really long time," she spoke aloud. "And maybe you're still upset with me over certain things I've done in my life, but Kacey is one thing I've done that turned out pretty damn perfect. So, please… please watch over her and keep her safe," Emily prayed.

xxx

The ground was cold against her feet even with the three pairs of socks on. And the air was chilly against her face. Kacey didn't dwell on those things as she ran down the alley. It was hard to see in the fog, but she turned a corner at the end of the alley and then made another turn, sure to run opposite of where she'd come from. Street lights created large puddles of light, but there were still some spots where it was a little dark. Kacey ran through those spots quicker. She also ran through a park, past play equipment and an empty pool. Tall trees whizzed past her and made her feel like she was back in that forest with Derek again. She missed Derek and hoped to see him soon, but she missed her mommy even more.

After what felt like a really long time to her, Kacey finally came to a busier street; one without houses or park. There were more lights, both on the sides of the street as well as stop lights dangling above the center of the street. She stood on one corner of an intersection. Three cars were stopped, two to her left and one to the right. Kitty-corner from her was a place that looked like a shopping center. She hit the crosswalk button and patiently waited. Kacey crossed in two directions, looking both ways even after being given the walk signal. Then she rushed toward one of the stores she could see up ahead.

People were standing in a long line in front of the store; men, women and even some children. Kacey recalled what her mother had said about finding a busy place. She approached the line cautiously and searched the crowd. She spotted a woman who was kind of short with blonde hair. The woman was holding a small child bundled up in her arms and there was a man standing beside them, his hand against the woman's back. The mother was smiling at her sleeping child, so Kacey picked her.

"Excuse me," she greeted them politely. "Do you have a cell phone I can use?"

The blonde woman looked down at Kacey, instantly curious about her appearance, especially her lack of shoes. "Are you lost, sweetie?"

"I need to call someone to pick my mommy and me up," Kacey replied.

Fog settled in all around them and they shivered on the sidewalk. "You look really familiar, kid," the man spoke up, glancing down at her. His eyes widened, as if in recognition. "Are you that missing girl, Kacey Donovan?"

Kacey's head nodded vigorously. "Yes," she'd seen some of the news programs that her mother had been watching. "Please," again she asked politely. "I need to call someone so they can find my mommy."

"We should really call the police," the woman said, passing her child to the man at her side. She pulled out a purple cell phone and flipped it open.

"No, please, I need to call someone else first," Kacey pleaded her case. "It's really, really important."

The woman looked to her husband and they both shrugged, uncertain what to do. "Do you know the number you want to call?" she finally asked.

"703-555-2111."

Numbers were pressed. "Here you go, sweetie," the woman handed her phone to Kacey.

xxx

Early morning sun shown down on them as he passed the football. It wasn't terribly warm, but Derek wasn't used to seeing any sunshine around Thanksgiving time; not in Virginia or in Chicago. But southern California was a whole different story. The football came hurdling back at him from across the small distance where his ball throwing partner was standing. The kid was taking it easy on him, given his recent injuries. The kid was James Barfield, a boy he'd befriended years ago in Chicago. Now that kid had a full ride scholarship to play ball for the University of Southern California. And James had gotten Derek and his friends into Memorial Stadium for a little game of catch before the USC team started one of their crack-of-dawn practices over the holiday break.

Morgan glanced over at the two people in the stands; Penelope and Kevin. Derek was technically still on approved medical leave, though he'd only convalesced for the first four and a half days. On the fifth day he'd attended Lucas Donovan's funeral. Garcia had been there with him, and was still at his side. When the rest of the team had been recalled she'd taken leave, too, citing a family emergency. Her time had been spent with Morgan tracking every possible lead on Emily and Kacey. In both their minds that was, indeed, family related. Checking out an FBI safe-house location in Los Angeles was how they'd ended up spending Thanksgiving in the area. When Kevin had flown in to visit his family in Pasadena, he'd been pleasantly surprised to find his girlfriend.

"You can tell me anything that's on your mind," James let his friend know. Derek had been the closest thing to a father in his life for many years. They'd also shared a huge secret that cemented a bond between them. "I only met her once, but she seemed like a good person."

"Emily is the best person I know," Derek emphasized the word, _is_, not liking that James had used words that reeked of past tense.

The boy wore a grin. "Damn fine body, too," he nodded.

Derek shook his head and passed the ball again. "You do know there's more to a woman than physical attributes."

"Says the old man," James playfully ribbed. "I know you used to be a player." He tossed the ball.

"Those days are long gone," Morgan insisted, lining up his fingers along the ball.

James grinned again. "Yeah, because you got yourself a seriously fine woman," the boy remarked. His face turned serious, though, as he caught another pass. "You think it's possible to have a normal life after everything we've been through?"

That was a damn fine question. One Derek really didn't have an answer for. He wanted to believe so, but it seemed things were always being thrown in his way of a happy life. Some of those things were outside forces, but some were walls he'd built all on his own. He really wanted to break them down, but he was almost certain he needed Emily's help. His phone rang just as the ball sailed out of his hands. "I've got to take this, kid. Could be important," Morgan glanced at the caller ID but didn't recognize the number. The area code wasn't east coast and it wasn't local. "Hello," he answered.

"_Derek?_"

The small uncertain voice had Derek perched on the edge of hope. "Kacey?" he asked in return. "Is that you sweetheart, where are you?"

"_I don't know... mommy is still at the bad place. You have to come help_," she begged.

"Okay, darling. But I need to know where you are, is there anyone who can tell you?" Morgan watched as James caught Garcia and Kevin's attention and waved them down. He also heard the girl talking to someone else, and then another voice greeted him.

"_Hello?_" the woman spoke. "_My name is Helen Thompson; Kacey came up to us outside the Sears store in Medford, Oregon. She asked to use my phone and my husband recognized her from all the news reports. Should we call the police?_"

"My name is Derek Morgan, ma'am, I'm with the FBI," he quickly introduced himself as Garcia and Kevin rushed to his side. "Can I trust you with Kacey's life?"

"_Yes, sir,_" her response was confident.

He let out a breath. "Good, then I need you and your husband to take her to the nearest police station and stay with her. I'm in southern California right now, but I'm going to catch the next flight out."

"_Okay, we'll get her there,_" Helen assured him.

"Can I talk to Kacey again?"

There was a short pause and Kacey's voice came back on the line. "_Derek, I'm scared. I need to go back to mommy, but I didn't see the house number and it was really foggy and dark. I don't remember the way back to mommy._"

"That's alright, sweetheart. The lady with you, Helen, she's going to take you to the police and I'll be there real soon. I need you to tell the police officers anything you can remember."

"_Okay. I want to see you, Derek._"

Morgan smiled. He wanted to see her, too. "You will, brave-girl. I'm going to hang up now but I'll call you back real soon. I promise."

"_I love you, Derek_," Kacey told him.

Her words seemed to come so easily. For a second he pretended they'd been born of her need to feel reassured about what was going on. But the truth was they'd bonded almost instantly up on that mountain. His response came nearly as easily. "I love you, too, Kacey. I'll see you soon," He hung up, not wanting to prolong the goodbye any further. He hoped he'd also get a chance to finally tell Emily he loved her.

Derek quickly bid James farewell and then he and Garcia rushed toward their rental car, leaving Kevin behind to contact Hotch.

xxx

It was nine o'clock in the morning and Emily hadn't been able to go back to sleep, nor could she eat. Her stomach was tied in knots, and not because of the baby. She hadn't thrown up in three days and was pretty much just hungry all the time anymore. But even the thought of anything with peanut butter on it, which had so far been her biggest craving, wasn't remotely enticing to her at the moment. Her worry for Kacey was all-consuming.

The front door opened and closed. Doris walked in. Neither she nor Morris ever bothered to knock. "I figured you'd be awake by now."

"Kacey's still sleeping," Emily promptly replied, hoping she didn't sound too eager to answer.

"I'm about to head out and was wondering if there's anything Kacey or you needed," Doris inquired.

"We need a lot of things you can't provide," Emily returned.

Doris frowned. "You still don't like me."

Emily scoffed at that obvious statement. "I'm never going to be your friend. I don't understand how you could do any of this." Worry and guilt was causing her temper to flare, and Doris was the perfect target.

"Wouldn't you do anything for your child?"

"Not kidnap innocent people and hold them hostage," Emily spat. "Not kill innocent children."

"I didn't kill those children, Mel did," the woman replied.

The knot in Emily's stomach twisted tighter. She wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Over the years, Emily had heard some of the worst criminals had to offer, but she was pretty sure her hormones were causing her to be more disgusted than usual over what Doris believed. "You knew, you stood by and did nothing. In my book that's the same as killing them. And for what?"

"So Katie will never be forgotten. Mel and I tried for a long time to have a child, but the tests revealed that he was never going to get me pregnant. Paul and I were in a support group together at church. We went out for coffee several times after the group and suddenly he offered to father a child for me, no strings attached. I went along and eventually we fell in love. Mel made things difficult, though. He knew about Katie not being his, he knew about the affair. He wouldn't sign the divorce papers, he was punishing me and that day when Katie was in the tree, he... it wasn't an accident what happened, Mel pushed her."

Emily shook her head. "And I'm supposed to believe this sob story?"

"You don't have to, but it's the truth. Mel felt horrible, so he tried to make it up to me by taking those other children."

"And you went along with it? You just keep proving my point," Emily sighed, exasperatedly.

Doris protested. "I had to; he threatened me."

A tiny pang of sympathy filled Emily. "But he killed them anyway."

"He felt so bad," Doris said.

Her sympathy flew out the window. "You are deluded."

"Paul said so, too, but he said he could help me. By taking Kacey, he said we'd have our Katie back."

"And he could pin the kidnapping on me while the three of you took off. Only that didn't happen, Mel decided to stop you. Maybe the only sane thing he did," Emily noted. "I'm sure Morris was plenty happy when I presented him with a way to kill Mel."

Doris' head shook. "We never wanted anyone to die."

"Oh, forget it..." Emily had never actually talked to a brick wall before, but she was fairly certain it would be similar to the conversation she'd just had. "Kacey ate all of the Fruit Loops last night, and I wouldn't mind a sweatshirt of some kind. It gets a little drafty in here." She decided to just play along, hoping to buy Kacey more time.

The other woman left, but the door opened again not five minutes later. Morris walked in. "Doris is always supposed to check on Kacey in the morning," he informed Emily. "You know that's one of the rules."

Emily nodded. "I know, but I let Kacey eat too many sweets yesterday and she has a stomach ache. She's still resting," the lies came out easily, but the look she saw on Morris' face told her he wasn't buying it.

He walked to the bedroom door and yanked it open. "She's not in bed," he spun around to face Emily.

"She must have gotten up to use the bathroom when I wasn't looking," Emily replied, her lies getting harder to digest.

Morris shook his head in a doubtful manner. "You didn't see her? Where could you possibly be in this small space that you wouldn't see her?" He stalked toward the bathroom and opened the door. He searched behind the door, behind the shower curtain and even in the small linen closet. Then he returned to the bedroom.

Emily remained silent as she watched him look inside the closet. She knew exactly where he'd search next. There was no other place to look. He went to one knee and peered under the bed. Then he pulled out the sheet, his eyes growing wide at the sight before him. Finally he pushed the bed away from the wall. Morris turned his head toward Emily. "Where is she?" he asked.

"I don't know," Emily shrugged. That was the truth. "I told her to run."

His green eyes glared at her, but he didn't raise his voice or lay a hand on her. Only calm furry snaked out with his words, "You've made a very big mistake."

xxx

Two and a half hours after Kacey's call, Derek walked through the Medford police station and scooped the six-year-old up into his arms. Morgan held on to her for a long time then he carefully peeled her away enough so she could see what Garcia had in her hands. "Emily!" she reached out for the stuffed ladybug and smashed it against her chest. Kacey then dug into the pocket of her jeans and showed Derek the painted rock she'd been carrying around with her. "This is Emily, too."

Derek smiled, kissed her on the cheek and finally turned toward the police chief who was standing to his right. "Have you found the house?" In transit, from the airport into town, he'd been informed about everything Kacey had told the police. Morgan knew they were looking for a yellow two-story house and detached garage. He also knew the city wasn't that big. It seemed they should've already had Emily.

"No, sir," chief Richards replied. "We've got every available car out canvassing neighborhood by neighborhood. A few yellow houses have turned up, but surprisingly no two-story ones, yet. And the license number Kacey gave us is for a 2007 Ford Escape; silver, registered to a woman named Samantha Neilson. Not sure who she is or how she connects to Morris."

"Have you taken Kacey with you to search for the house?" Garcia asked. "She's the only one who's actually been there."

Richards shook his head. "We didn't want to run the risk of the girl being recaptured."

"She won't be on my watch," Morgan declared. He shifted the girl to his right hip. "Come on Kacey; let's go find your mommy." Kacey was happy to help. She sat in the back of a black SUV, Derek to one side of her and Garcia on the other. "Tell me about this morning," Derek prodded her as an officer drove them around. "It was foggy and dark… where did you go first?"

"Down the alley and then left… or maybe right."

Penelope held the girl's hand, lending what little support she could. She wasn't used to being in the field, but the rest of the team wasn't due to land for another half hour. "What did you see, sweetheart?" she asked.

"Just houses."

"What else?" Derek asked.

"I saw trees in the park," Kacey's eyes widened as she spoke. "I forgot about the park, Derek. I'm sorry."

Morgan smoothed a hand over the back of her head. "It's okay. Tell me what you saw at the park."

"A pool. At the apartment, mommy let me swim in the bathtub and we pretended that we were at the beach."

Derek sat forward. "Do you know a park like that?" he asked the officer who was driving.

"Probably Hawthorne Park, we're only a few blocks away," he said, taking a hard right.

A few minutes later Garcia and Derek were standing on either side of Kacey in the middle of the park. They'd spotted the pool and just needed to jog Kacey's memories enough to get a direction. Finally the girl pointed north. "I was running that way."

"Makes sense," Officer Keller nodded. "That's the direction of the shopping center where she was found. But we've had cars all over this area. No one has reported back on a house that fits the description she gave."

"Then we need to search again," Morgan insisted. He could tell the officer wasn't convinced about Kacey's ability to remember what had happened. But Derek believed in her. They roamed the neighborhood, traveling up and down the same streets, over and over. One house kept catching Derek's eye. It was painted light green, but the trim was white and the shutters were dark green, which still matched Kacey's description. Two huge evergreen trees flanked the sides, and an eight foot fence and more trees obscured the rest of the house from being seen. "Drive around the back of this one," Morgan instructed.

The rear of the house wasn't visible until they were right up on it. Its appearance caused Derek's heart to tighten. The back and sides of the structure were yellow, exactly as Kacey had stated. She'd just never seen the front. And the police hadn't bothered to cruise the back alley of that particular street. Morgan couldn't blame them, though, he'd let it pass him by numerous times, too. Now he bolted from the SUV, instructing Garcia to stay put with Kacey. Officer Keller called for backup and then followed Morgan into the yard.

Derek approached the garage. "I've got this, check the house," he ordered the officer. His heart was pounding as he rounded the corner and neared the garage door. There was a lock and key pad near the knob. Morgan turned the knob then tried to kick it in, but the door was steel. "If anyone's in there stand clear of the door!" he shouted and waited just a few seconds before he fired at the lock. The door swung open and he stepped inside, leading with his gun.

It didn't take long to search the small space. Emily wasn't there. "Mommy!" Kacey shouted as she came barreling into the apartment.

Garcia locked eyes with Morgan. "I'm sorry, she's slippery and fast."

Kacey dashed into the bedroom and looked around. She went to the dresser where the other ladybug rocks were. Derek stood behind her. "The Kacey rock is missing, mommy must have her," she told Derek. "The ladybug family is sad without her."

Officer Keller approached them. "There's no one in the house, and no vehicle anywhere," he reported.

"Where's mommy?" Kacey finally asked.

Morgan lifted her up. "I'm going to find her, darling. We'll put the ladybug family back together again, I promise."

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 11

By N. J. Borba

* * *

Police officers mulled around the main house and apartment searching for anything of use in finding Morris. Morgan had commandeered the small bedroom space in the apartment for Garcia, Kacey and himself as they waited for the team. The door hung open half way and a cool wind whistled through the hole in the wall. Derek was still impressed by the damage Emily had done. She was definitely a fighter, but he'd always known that. From the moment they'd started their more-than-friends relationship he'd had to fight down his protective nature, because she could hold her own when the chips were down. He was counting on that fact now more than ever.

His eyes caught on Kacey and he smiled softly knowing that Emily's warrior nature had passed to her daughter. But there was sadness etched across Kacey's face that made his heart ache. "What's on your mind, brave-girl?" he asked, crouching down in front of her.

Kacey was perched on the edge of the bed she'd shared with her mother for two long weeks. Her legs dangled over the side but didn't reach the floor. She had the remaining ladybug rocks in her lap. Her eyes didn't rise to meet his. "Do you think it's my fault mommy is missing?"

Morgan pushed several strands of dark hair behind her ears and lifted her chin with one of his fingers. He looked her in the eye. "No," his answer was firm. But he was curious about her worry. "Why would you even think such a thing?"

The girl gulped down her pain and whispered. "Mommy tried to talk about the baby sometimes, but I didn't want to. She calls me baby and if there's a new baby then she won't call me that anymore. And maybe she won't love me as much anymore. Maybe she's gone because I wanted the baby gone and the baby's inside mommy."

Derek shook his head at her innocent reasoning. "What you thought about the baby is called jealousy, Kacey. Everyone gets jealous at some point in their life. It makes you human," he hoped he was making some sense. "You just got your mommy back, so it's understandable that you want her all to yourself. And babies do take up a lot of attention," Morgan wasn't going to lie to her. "But I know your mommy, and she's got a lot of love to give. I'm sure she can love you both."

"So, I didn't make mommy and the baby go away?"

"Nope," Morgan reassured her. "What you did was amazing, Kacey. I know some adults who'd be scared to do what you did this morning."

Her blue eyes regained a bit of sparkle, pride seeping outward. "Mommy was worried about letting me go, but I said I could do it. I knew I could."

He kissed her forehead. Morgan was proud of her, too, but his worry for Emily and the baby resurfaced. "Has your mommy been sick?"

Kacey nodded. "Sometimes, but mostly she's really hungry. She eats lots of granola and peanut butter. She likes peanut butter on lots of stuff, like chicken and salad and with yogurt and Fruit Loop sandwiches."

Garcia was trying to stay out of their private conversation, but she cringed a little upon hearing the last bit of information Kacey had relayed. She looked up and flashed Derek a smile. "It sounds like she's definitely pregnant and eating a lot. I'm guessing that's a good thing." The tech was situated further up the bed, legs crossed in front of her with a laptop propped atop them. The cord snaked its way down to the floor and across to the nearest outlet. It wasn't the ideal setting, but Penelope Garcia could set up shop anywhere she was needed.

The knowledge of Emily's eating-for-two habits eased his heart, but didn't completely settle it. For one thing, he got the impression that she was a lot more pregnant than he'd originally thought. Even the thought of having a few fewer weeks to prepare for fatherhood was causing him to break out in a cold sweat. He tried to focus his energy elsewhere, though, aiming a question at Garcia. "What have you got on Samantha Nielson?"

"Just found another address for her in Phoenix, Arizona," Penelope responded. "Apparently she only uses this place in the summer and then migrates south for the winter," she explained. "Neilson is 52 years old, took early retirement from a local fruit and gift packaging facility up here. Purchased the Arizona property about three years ago, was widowed at the early age of 39, husband killed in a factory accident. She was born and raised here in southern Oregon, has no children, parents both passed away recently. There's one sister listed, Courtney Nielson, but she died over twenty years ago."

"So, what's her connection to Morris?" Derek wondered. "Do you have a number we can reach her at?"

"I don't know, and yes," Garcia wiped out her cell phone, quickly dialed the number she'd pulled up on her laptop and punched the speaker button.

The phone rang three times before someone picked up. "_Hello?_" a female voice greeted them warily.

"Is this Samantha Nielson we're speaking to?" Morgan took the lead on the call, even as Garcia held the phone for him.

"_Yes_," the voice was still cautious.

"Ma'am, my name is Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI and we're working on the disappearance of Kacey Donovan and Emily Prentiss."

"_This is about Paul Morris_," the woman stated knowingly.

Derek nodded as he spoke. "Yes, ma'am," he replied. "I take it that means you know him?"

"_Wish I didn't_," Samantha replied. "_And truthfully,_ _I don't really know him all that well. He was just the college jerk who knocked up my baby sister._"

Morgan and Garcia exchanged a quick glance, hoping they were on to something. "Your sister was Courtney, right? And you say she had Morris's baby?"

"_I said he knocked her up, didn't say she had the baby,_" Samantha Neilson paused. A heavy sigh followed. "_Courtney was nearly twelve years younger than me. She was a surprise to my parents late in life, but a great kid, smart and funny. She got a scholarship to some school back east, can't remember the name of it now. She graduated high school a little early so she was just barely seventeen when she went off to that school. Met some guy named Paul almost right off. Got pregnant and dropped out. My parents didn't want her to marry the guy, but he came around a few times. Courtney and the baby both died in childbirth._"

That information was quickly processed and set aside as Morgan moved forward. "Have you had contact with him since then?"

"_No, nothing. Why you calling me now?_"

"Paul Morris has been holding his abducted victims in your Medford, Oregon residence," Derek revealed.

There was a small gasp followed by, "_What the hell_…" She was clearly surprised to hear the news. "_So, you found them? They're okay? I can't imagine why the heck he'd take them there, or how he even knew where I lived. This is… is there something I need to do? Some police matters that need my attention? I will swear on a whole stack of bibles that I had nothing to do with that creep. I'd never in a million years willingly board his ass in my place._"

"I trust you, ma'am," Derek assured her. "Your house is being processed as a crime scene, so I do suggest you make a trip up here to deal with the local authorities. But right now I need your help. We have the girl, but not her mother. Do you have any idea where Morris might go in the area? Any other properties you own? Any place connected to Courtney that he might visit?"

"_I don't know about a connection to my sister, but there's a cabin up near Crater Lake that was my parents back then. It passed to me when they died. I never go up there, been meaning to sell it off, but the economy isn't so great. People are barely buying new homes, let alone vacation cabins_."

"Is it 23 Union Creek Road off of Highway 62?" Garcia asked the woman, having already searched for other property listings online.

"_That's it_," she confirmed.

Derek had all he figured he'd get from the women and made a move to end the call. "Thank you so much for your time and the information, ma'am."

"_Wish I could do more, guess I'll be booking a flight out of here,_" she signed off.

The bedroom door swung open all the way and Hotch stepped into the space. His eyes immediately fell to Kacey and a rare smile graced his lips to see the child was alive. Reid poked his head in behind the team leader. He stood in the open doorway as Hotch spoke. "We left Dave and JJ at the airport. There's a possible lead on the plane Morris was flying, due to Kacey's account of the registration numbers on the tail. A local mechanic, Al Burton, claims he might have done some work on the craft. He's looking through his service logs. And air traffic control claims the plane never landed, but they've had several days in which the tower was actually shut down due to heavy fog. He must have slipped in unnoticed, but the craft isn't berthed at Medford International any longer and it didn't take off this morning."

"So, he moved it at some point in the last few weeks," Morgan noted. He then relayed what they'd just discovered via their conversation with Samantha Neilson.

"That makes two children he's fathered that have died," Reid thought it seemed significant. "I can see where he might go along with Doris Toher's desire to take a child. Still seems off, though, with what we know of his pristine FBI record."

"I think our biggest mistake so far has obviously been profiling him as an FBI agent," Derek interjected. "Garcia and I assumed he'd pick a safe house location because of his connections, but instead he chose a house that belonged to the sister of his long dead girlfriend," Morgan held his hands palm-up, thinking that was rather out of the norm. "He's obviously got some serious emotional baggage that we've yet to skim the surface of. His actions are being based on that emotion, rather than the rational law enforcement officer we've dealt with so far," he concluded.

"Then we should check out that cabin," Hotch reasoned.

"It seems like one of the best options we've got going at the moment," Morgan agreed.

Kacey carefully set her rock family on the bed, stood up and moved stealthily toward Derek. She tugged at his hand and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Derek, I forgot to tell you about mommy's bracelet."

"What bracelet is that, darling?" Morgan asked as he gingerly lifted the girl into his arms, being mindful of his injury that was still healing.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned against his left side. "The bad man made me call him Paul. Paul put the bracelet on mommy's leg so she couldn't go anywhere outside," Kacey explained. "That's why she had me go through the hole to get help. It was her plan to come, too, but she couldn't."

"House arrest bracelet," Hotch guessed.

With Kacey still balanced on his hip, Derek moved toward the door and spotted the man he'd been working with all morning. "Keller," he waved the officer over. The man strode forward and stood at attention. "Have you or any of the other officers found a monitoring bracelet on site?" Derek inquired.

Keller's head shook. "We've been all over both buildings, nothing like that has turned up. But, now that you mention it, we did find a device in the water heater closet here that's probably a base box for something like that."

Morgan immediately caught Garcia's attention. "Is there any way to trace the bracelet? They give off a frequency, right?"

"Right," she answered. "And given that he left behind the base box, I could probably crack it open and hone in on the frequency."

"Do it," Hotch and Derek said at the same time.

Hotch's cell phone rang and he flipped it open, hit the speaker button and greeted Rossi with a quick, "What have you got?"

"_Burton confirmed that he did work on a craft with the registration tail code that Kacey gave us; D-289. However, the work he did on the craft was to remove those numbers and apply new ones. He said Morris had proper papers for the new registration. Or, at least they looked real enough to be passable. Burton claims it's not his job to check up on that sort of thing. Also, he said Morris was asking about other airports in the region. That tells me he may have moved the plane somewhere close. JJ has a list of the ones Burton gave Morris…_"

The media liaison's voice came over the line in a flow of precise words. "_Ashland Municipal Air Stripe is about 16 miles south-east of us. Grants Pass Airport is 35 miles north-east. Both of those are off I-5. And then there's Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, which is 55 miles east on highway 66. Kingsley is a joint civil-military airport, which is mostly military and personal use with minor commercial traffic._"

"Right off the bat my gut is telling me to check out Kingsley," Derek offered up. "Morris is former Air Force, he could have some connection to, or affinity for, Kingsley Field," he suggested.

"That's a good possibility," Hotch wasn't opposed to gut feelings, but he liked that Morgan had backed it up with some logic. He directed his words toward the phone again. "Dave, I want you and JJ to get down to Ashland Municipal right away. Don't waste a lot of time, if there's nothing to go on then get up to Grants Pass as quick as you can," he ended the call and instantly caught Keller's attention. "You know the road to Klamath Falls?"

"Yes, sir," the man answered.

"Then you'll drive me there," Hotch instructed.

"What about the cabin up highway 62?" Garcia asked.

Hotch turned to Derek. "Take Reid with you and check it out," he instructed. Then he and Keller were off.

Morgan looked to Kacey who was still snuggled up in his arms. "I've gotta go, sweetheart."

"Can I go with you?" she asked, clinging a little tighter.

"No, darling, you need to stay."

"But I got to come here with you. I helped you find the house. I want to help find mommy, too."

"I know you do, baby girl," Morgan tried to sooth her. "But right now I need you to do something even more important." He walked her over to the bed where Garcia was still pounding away on her keyboard. "You got anything yet?"

She shook her head. "Turns out its encrypted. I'll get it, but it's going to take longer than I thought," Garcia apologized, always sorry to let the team down.

"I know you'll figure it out," Morgan wasn't worried. He sat Kacey down on the bed beside her. "And I have an assistant for you," he let Garcia know. "The two of you haven't been formally introduced. Penelope, this is Kacey," he said. "Kacey, this is one of my best friends in the world. Her name is Penelope Garcia. You're going to stay here with her. Help her if she asks, but don't get in her way, and do as she says. No slipping away, okay? Promise me?"

Kacey still didn't look entirely pleased about being left behind. She aimed her blue eyes at Garcia. "Can the ladybug rocks help you, too?" she asked.

Penelope smiled. "Of course, I could use all the help I can get."

The girl turned her gaze back to Derek. "I promise."

Morgan stepped out of the room for a few minutes and rounded up two officers. He promptly ushered them to the entrance of the bedroom. One was a petite woman with red hair pinned into a low pony tail. "This is officer…" Derek looked to the woman for her to fill in the blank.

"Janelle Taylor," she said.

Derek waved a hand at the other officer. He was a tall, slim man; his brown eyes focused and serious. "Oliver Swartz," he offered.

"You two know what's going on?" Morgan asked them. He received two nods in return. "So you understand what's at stake here?" Another round of nodding confirmed they were up to speed. "I want you to watch over these two people," Derek pointed toward Kacey and Garcia. "As of right now, they are the two most important people in the world. They don't leave your sight for a second. Are we clear?"

Again Taylor and Swartz nodded. Derek rushed back to Kacey's side, kissed her and then darted out of the room with Reid at his heels.

xxx

Everything was dark and there was movement, a gentle rumble. Emily could feel the cover over her eyes the way she had the last time. She was sure they were on the move somewhere, but her head was foggy. And there were missing moments. She recalled Kacey getting away safely and Morris discovering the hole in the wall. After that she had no memories of leaving the apartment or seeing any sort of vehicle. Emily listened carefully, trying to determine if they were driving or flying. A distinct whump of tires on pavement resounded in her ears. It was definitely the highway. That gave her some hope that they hadn't gotten too far from Kacey.

She was lying on her side; not in a seat. Most likely she was in the back of an SUV or even the trunk of a car. Emily knew her hands were cuffed behind her back. She flexed her fingers, trying to keep them from going numb. Her ankles were also bound, possibly taped or tied with ropes. She curled her body up into a fetal position and stretched her arms down over her butt. Then she attempted to get her legs through the hole created by her cuffed arms. It took several tries, and some contortionism, but she finally managed. With her hands in front of her, Emily reached up and tugged down the cloth covering her eyes.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the low level of illumination. A few thin streams of light were making it inside through cracks in the trunk. It was most defiantly a trunk, she finally realized. Emily promptly assessed the situation. With the small bit of light, her head was suddenly pounding and she felt a little sick to her stomach. It didn't seem like baby sickness, though. Then it dawned on her that she'd most likely been drugged. That would certainly explain the missing time. But the thought of drugs in her system had her worried for the baby's safety.

Over the last few weeks Emily had slowly come to terms with the child growing in her womb. She'd been completely surprised by the pregnancy at first, and was still overwhelmed at the thought of starting all over again with a baby. It seemed a little ridiculous to want a child at her age. Kacey was already past the nursing, diapers, teething and potty training stages. She'd be changing diapers in her forties and all the other PTA moms would probably think she was her child's grandmother, yet she still wanted the baby. She loved it, just like she loved Derek and Kacey. It was already a part of their family. And she needed to fight to keep that family together.

Emily reached down and discovered it was ropes at her ankles. She worked at the tight knots for a long time before freeing herself. The cuffs still weren't going anywhere, but at least she could run if the opportunity presented itself. Her hands roamed along the interior of the trunk, hoping for a release latch. She couldn't tell what year the vehicle was, but if it was a newer model chances were good there'd be a way out from the inside. Of course, there was still the issue of them speeding along the highway, which really only left her with one other option.

xxx

A few houses and other structures dotted the highway landscape, but mostly trees. Evergreens lined the road, some of them three stories tall or more. Derek felt like he'd stepped back in time to a moment two weeks ago in the Mark Twain Forest of the south. Except now he was in a north-west forest. Different trees, similar scenario. Then he'd been running full-tilt up the side of a small mountain trying to reach Kacey. Now he was behind the wheel of an SUV driving up a paved mountain road trying to locate Emily. It was like déjà vu in an alternate reality.

But for some reason a different sort of worry suddenly struck him. "Do you think I'll be a good father?"

Reid removed his eyes from the road and looked to Derek. He wore a slight deer-in-the-headlights gaze for a moment, but it smoothed into a reassuring smile. "I think if you're worried about it then you're already a good father. The best parents always worry a lot," he noted.

Morgan thought about his mother and all the fretting she'd done over her many years of parenting. She still called him every week to make sure he was okay, eating right and taking his vitamins. "I can see how that theory might be true," he chuckled lowly. But his concern slipped back into place as thoughts of Emily, Kacey and the baby filled his head. More than anything he wanted the three of them to be safe.

A phone rang and it took Reid and Morgan a moment to work out whose mobile device it was. Reid flipped his open and stabbed the speaker button. "Hotch," he greeted their boss. "We're about 35 miles up the highway, just passing through Joseph Stewart state recreational area. It's pretty icy on the road, slow going," the younger man reported.

"_We've got a bit of snow on our end_," Hotch relayed the message. "_And we're not even half way up to Klamath Falls yet. I just got off the line with Dave and JJ. They swept through Ashland pretty quickly. Everything was clear so they're doubling back now. But I imagine they might hit a bit of weather, too_."

"That should bode well for us. Maybe Morris is having trouble getting out of dodge," Morgan offered up from the driver's seat. "Either on the road or flying."

"_We can only hope_," Hotch agreed.

There was a soft beeping sound coming from Reid's phone and he glanced at the screen. "Hotch; Garcia is trying to get through."

"_Keep in touch_," the team leader signed off.

Spencer transferred to take Garcia's call. "_I cracked the encryption_," she greeted them without preamble. "_I just zeroed in on the bracelet's position about a minute ago and it's headed straight toward you guys."_

"Can you estimate their distance from us?" Morgan asked.

"_I'd say in the ballpark of 3-5 miles. It's hard to tell, but they're really close. And I found another interesting tidbit of information for you. There's a small public airport further up highway 62 near a town called, Prospect. It's about nine miles from where you are now_."

"If he had the plane stashed there but couldn't get off the ground, wouldn't he stay put and ride out the weather?" Reid asked.

"Not if he's gotten any wind of the news," Morgan countered. "If he knows we've discovered the house then he's probably guessed we know about Neilson and the cabin connection. He's trying to get away while he can, but we're going to intercept his ass," Derek growled. He steered the SUV onto a bridge that was slightly narrower than the main highway. An idea quickly formed in his head. "Garcia, is Kacey alright?"

"_Good as can be expected_," she let him know.

"Tell her I'm bringing her mommy home soon," he signaled to Reid to end the call.

"Maybe that's a little premature," Spencer spoke with a note of caution, unsure if it was wise to question Morgan's actions. "I mean, getting her hopes up like that when it could easily be a distraction set up by Morris. He might have tossed that bracelet monitor thingy into someone else's car while he was up there. Maybe Morris really is about to fly out of that Prospect airport."

Derek's head shook. "I don't think Morris is flying anywhere. For one thing, the weather is pretty shitty up here. And another thing, he's gotta know we're on to him. If any plane in the region takes off right now he knows we'll track it to its landing place and have a dozen FBI agents on him. He's made a few mistakes in all this, but that would be a pretty huge one. And right now he doesn't have a clue we're just miles apart."

He stopped talking and concentrated on the plan in his head, although it wasn't much of a plan. Morgan felt the SUV slide a little on a patch of ice. The bridge was covered in the stuff and Derek was glad they wouldn't be traveling any further up. He carefully stopped at the other end of the bridge and parked so the SUV was turned sideways, taking up both lanes. Derek opened his door and stepped out; positioning himself in front of the SUV and facing the direction Morris would be coming from.

Reid got out and came around to stand beside his friend. "What are you doing?"

"I'm creating a road block," Derek explained. His right hand was resting on the weapon at his side and both feet were planted as firmly as they could be on the icy pavement. He'd all but handed Emily and Kacey to Morris on a platter two weeks ago, but he wasn't going to let the man get away from him again.

Everything was eerily quiet for a moment. The trees stood sentry along the banks of the lake. A thin mist of fog blanketed the water like a fluffy quilt. Morgan watched his breath rise as it escaped past his lips. He could see the road ahead as it curved around a bend. And he spotted the silver vehicle as it rounded the corner and approached the narrow passage. Derek continued to stand, unwavering, exactly like the trees that were watching the scene play out. His heart thumped loudly in his head and in his chest as he waited. "Keep coming," Morgan whispered tauntingly to the vehicle, as if he were playing a child's game of chicken and not risking his life.

Soon they were close enough for Derek to ID Morris and the woman seated beside him. He couldn't see Emily, though. He prayed she was with them and that he could stop them. Morris braked, but the ice beneath the car's tires was slick and unforgiving. In a matter of seconds he was sliding out of control. "Morgan, get out of the way!" Reid shouted.

When Morris's bumper was merely inches from Derek's midsection he finally dove to the side along with Reid. The sound of brakes squealing and ice crunching caused his stomach to clinch in fright. He rolled when he hit the ground and slid along the slippery bridge. But his minor ordeal was nothing compared to the vehicle that was about to collide with the parked SUV. "What the hell have I done?" Derek asked himself, unable to control the situation he'd created.

There was no slow motion as Derek watched the silver vehicle slam into the side of the SUV with powerful speed. Both vehicles slid across the black ice nearly to the end of the long bridge. The SUV bounced off a guardrail and slid to a halt, but Morris's vehicle wasn't as lucky. The wheels upturned when it hit the rail and the whole vehicle went teetering over the side of the bridge. It was all over in a flash; barely a single blink of the eye. But Derek realized he'd stopped blinking several minutes ago. He quickly scrambled to his feet, ran across the slippery road toward the scene, leaned heavily against the side rail and looked down.

The sleepy, blue-green lake below had been startled by the large object, waves radiating outward in concentric circles from the center of the mass. The front of the vehicle was already submerged and Derek watched as the rear end was quickly swallowed up, too. "Emily?" her name sorrowfully pushed past his lips. Seconds ago he had prayed for her to be in the vehicle, now he prayed she wasn't.

Spencer's phone rang as he carefully tried to walk along the icy path toward Morgan at the other end of the bridge. "Garcia…" he answered wearily. "This is not a good time for me to talk," Reid said, still holding on to a modicum of hope for Emily.

"_I just needed to tell you that the bracelet signal winked out on me a few seconds ago. I was worried_."

"It probably shorted when it hit the water," Reid guessed.

"_Water?_" Penelope asked. "_Reid, what's going on?"_

He reached Morgan's side just in time to witness the man swinging a leg over the guardrail. "I really need to go now," he hung up before having to explain to her that there was a very good chance he was going to have to talk Morgan out of jumping off a bridge.

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

I'm sorry this part took a bit longer... and I'm way behind on replying to your comments. Just please know I really appreciate them all!

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 12

By N. J. Borba

* * *

"Hey, let me the hell out of here!"

Emily yelled, kicked and banged on the inside trunk lid as loud as she could. She had no idea if it would do any good, but it seemed like her only option. Maybe Morris wouldn't hear her, or maybe he wouldn't care. But if he had half a heart, which she suspected he did, Emily figured he might at least stop to see if she was okay. The only thing she had some faith in with regards to her captors was that they wouldn't harm her unborn child, because they wanted it for themselves. On the other hand, she supposed if she became too much of a nuisance she might outlive her usefulness all together. In which case, she was glad she'd at least gotten Kacey away from them.

"I think I'm going to be sick in here if you don't stop!" she shouted again. It was a lie, but it seemed a good enough plea to grant her freedom.

Sure enough, the car started to slow down and eventually came to a complete stop. Emily tried to calm her emotions in anticipation of what was going to happen. Her wits needed to be in fighting form. She listened as the sound of a car door opening and closing greeted her ears. Then there were a few footsteps and finally a clatter like that of metal against metal. She was pretty sure it was a key in the trunk lock. Emily reached into the small pocket of her sweat pants and wrapped her fingers around the only weapon she had. Kacey's ladybug rock wasn't very large, but it could possibly do some damage if given the opportunity.

The lock tumbled and the trunk popped open. Emily hadn't quite been prepared for the sudden inundation of light that shown down on her. She squinted up at the silvery-white sky and the shadow of a person standing over her. Thankfully it only took a few seconds for her vision to clear enough to make out the man's face. He had distinguished wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and salt and pepper hair. Dark eyes peered down at her; surprised eyes. And certainly not Morris's eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Emily asked.

"I was about to ask the same thing, though not as colorfully as you did," the man's deep voice responded. "This happens to be my car you're in," he pointed out. His right hand reached down in an offering to help her up.

Emily's jaw was firmly set, her guard still up as she scrutinized the man. Unfortunately, she was having difficulty getting out of the trunk without his help. She took his hand and tried to resist the urge to punch him when his other hand went to her side as he helped her out. Her feet were completely bare and the shock of the icy cold pavement caused her whole body to give a rolling shudder. She looked around and saw paved road in both directions and beyond that mostly trees. "Where am I?" she asked, ready to run if his answer didn't make her feel safe.

"Well," the man began. "This road is highway 62, also known as Crater Lake Highway. Currently we're just a little south of where I live in Prospect, and about 35 or so miles from Medford, Oregon. Oregon is a state in the United States of America, North American continent on the planet Ea…"

"Okay, okay," Emily wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed by his lengthy, and somewhat smart-assed, explanation. "And who are you?"

"Matt Benson," he put out his right hand in a friendly manner, intending on a hand shake. But when she didn't take it, Matt let it fall to his side. He stared at her for a long moment. "You sure look familiar, like I've seen you before. But I get the feeling you're not local. Are you on TV or something?"

She had a pretty good idea why he'd think that. "Maybe you've seen me on the news? My daughter and I were abducted by a man named Paul Morris about two weeks ago," Emily thought about that for a second. "Or maybe you know Morris and you're working with him, helping him transport me somewhere?"

His head shook. "No, no… you were right the first time. I remember now, Emily and Kacey. Of course," Matt smiled. "My wife and I have been following some of that case. Sorry I didn't recognize you right off… oh, wow, you…" he looked her up and down. "Shoot, we need to get you warm and get you to the police," he waved a hand toward the front of his car. "I was just headed into Medford for my weekly stop to pick up groceries and other supplies. I can get you to wherever you need to be."

The thought of him working with Morris slowly drained from her mind, but she was still a little wary of trusting him. He seemed harmless enough, but her defenses were the only thing she could rely on at the moment. Emily remained cautious as he held the passenger side door for her, but she easily slipped into the comfy seat and soaked up the interior's warmth. Her cuffed hands rested in her lap as he moved around and got back into the driver's seat. Matt reached over and Emily nearly brought her hands up to fend him off, until she realized he was opening the glove compartment. She relaxed a little, but kept a close eye on him.

"My wife is always putting the oddest things in here for survival reasons," he chuckled. "But these might be nice for you," Matt handed her a pair of thick gray socks. "They're clean," he assured her. "And I'll turn the heat up for you."

Emily held the socks as he moved back to his side. She noticed the glove compartment still hanging open and spotted something inside. "Has that granola bar been in there long?" she asked.

"Huh?" he looked over. "Oh, no… go ahead and help yourself."

She managed to unroll the socks and get them on her feet, even with her hands still bound. Then she grabbed the bar, slammed the glove box closed and tore into the package. Emily had been too worried earlier to eat anything, but now she found herself to be ravenous. She glanced over at Matt in between bites and noticed he still hadn't started the car up. He was also looking at her pointedly. "What?" she mumbled around the food stuffed in her mouth.

"It's a silly rule," he said. "But I can't start the car until you're belted in. Of course now I realize I was driving along with someone rattling around in my trunk," Matt shook his head. "Man, do I feel awful about that."

A half smile bloomed on her face as she listened to the older man. He really did seem remorseful for something that had clearly been out of his control. "I'm sorry I was a little rude before, not shaking your hand and all. I once had a really good friend whose name was similar to yours. Thank you for your kindness." Emily still had no idea why she'd been stuffed into the back of Matt's trunk, but she didn't suspect him of any wrong doing. She quickly got her seatbelt on and the old car rumbled to a start and headed down the road. "So, do you have any idea why I was…"

"In my trunk?" Matt guessed at what she was about to ask. His head shook. "Not a clue, dear."

"Do you work in… what did you call it, Prospect?" Emily asked.

"I'm semi-retired," he let her know. "If my wife and I were left at home together all day it wouldn't be a pretty thing. I love her to death, but part of the secret to our thirty-seven years of marriage is that we've never been home at the same time for too long," he grinned, carefully steering the vehicle along the icy road. "I work part-time as a grounds and maintenance person at the Prospect airstrip. Not a whole lot to do there, but I keep it looking nice. And my marriage is still intact."

"Airstrip," Emily pondered that information. "You ever see a yellow plane there with a tail number D-289?"

"Hmm, there is a yellow plane that turned up recently. Never have seen the owner of it, and I don't recall the tail number on it either. Could be, though," Matt nodded. They rode along silently for a short time after that, until he noticed something unusual through the trees at the bottom of the hill. "What the…" he carefully applied his breaks as they rounded a small curve.

Emily looked out through the front windshield and spotted a bridge across a body of aqua water. Upon first glance it looked serene, but what she saw toward the end of the bridge caused her heart to seize. Matt managed to bring the car to a full stop just past the bridge entry on their side. She exited the car as quickly as possible and took a few tentative steps in her new socks. They were bulky and a bit slippery against the melting ice on the road, but she kept going. Her eyes focused on the wreckage of black SUV for the longest time, until the specs on the side of the bridge came into focus.

"Reid? Morgan?" she whispered their names as her feet moved more quickly. It looked like one of the figures had a leg over the guard rail. "Derek!"

She watched him turn toward the sound of her voice. Emily felt her stomach flop as he put both his feet back on the bridge and immediately headed toward her. His eyes were still wide with disbelief as she crushed her body against his. All of her pent up emotions came flooding out as he wrapped his arms around her. She hated crying, but couldn't seem to help it as he held her close. The only thing she could have wished for was her hands to be un-cuffed so she could properly hug him back.

Derek didn't know what was going on. A minute ago he'd thought Emily had gone over the bridge with Morris. Now she was in his arms, safe. Or at least it seemed that way. He also thought perhaps he was still on the icy road, having slipped and hit his head so hard he was hallucinating. It all felt far too real to be a dream, though. The biting cold against his cheeks and Emily's tears soaking through his shirt. There was one more thing that would make it completely real for him.

"I love you," he whispered against the ridge of her ear.

Just when she thought her tears had run dry, her nose felt all tingly again and she sniffed. Emily tried not to make a big deal about the fact that he'd just said those words to her for the first time. She simply said them in return. "I love you, too."

He reluctantly stepped back a few inches, looking her over, running his hands down the back of her head and over her shoulders. "What happened?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Emily grinned, bringing her hands up to swipe away tears. She glanced over his shoulder at the crumpled SUV again. But an even more important question sprung to mind. Her eyes locked with his again. "Where's Kacey?"

Morgan smiled reassuringly as he pushed her tangled hair behind both ears. "Kacey's with Garcia back at the house where Morris was holding you. She's fine, except that she wanted to come with me to look for you." His smile deepened. "She got a hold of me. She's the reason why we're here now." Derek's left hand slid down her arm and then her side. His palm came to rest against her stomach. "I hope this baby is half as brave as his or her big sister."

Emily nodded, hoping for the same thing. Moreover, she was trying to keep an even keel in regards to Derek and the baby. He seemed genuinely interested in the child she was carrying, the child they'd created, but she didn't want to press her luck. She was actually relieved when Reid crowded in on their reunion and gave her a warm hug. Matt eventually joined the gathering and explanations were tossed back and forth between the four of them as they pieced together some of what had happened the last half hour. Within an hour's time they were all back in Medford, having been driven by Matt straight to the hospital upon Derek's orders. Emily wanted to see Kacey first and foremost, but Morgan insisted that she be checked over by a doctor.

A locksmith had been called to free her hands and the ER doctor at the medical center had taken some blood and then given Emily a chance to get cleaned up before her exam. Now she was seated on a paper-lined bed with Derek at her side as the doctor returned. "Toxicology report revealed a mild sedative in your system," the mid-forties woman revealed. "But it shouldn't have any adverse effects on the fetus. Your blood pressure is a little high, but that's to be expected after all you've been through. The leg wound healed well. Only thing left is I want you to have an ultrasound to cheek on the baby. Do you know how far along you are?"

"Not sure," Emily replied. "I was scheduled to see my doctor a few weeks ago… then all of this happened."

"Have you experienced any cramping or bleeding?"

"No," her head shook. "I was sick for a while, but now the nauseous feeling goes away when I eat. I've been eating a lot."

The doctor grinned. "That's a good sign." An ultrasound tech knocked on the door a few minutes later and entered the room. The younger woman set everything up and had a blurry image on the screen within a few minutes.

A distinct whooshing sound hit Derek's ears and his stomach leapt into his throat when the doctor pointed out that it was the baby's heartbeat. Until that moment the whole baby concept hadn't felt very real to him. He knew it was different for Emily, because it was her body doing the gestating. But now he could even see a tiny facial profile when the technician pointed it out. He squeezed Emily's hand. "Is it a boy or a girl?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell from this angle," the woman explained. "But the most important thing is that growth and development look really good, consistent with about a twelve or thirteen week pregnancy," she revealed.

Morgan looked to Emily. "That's three months," he stated.

Emily nodded. "I sure hope this kid inherits your swift math skills," she quipped, hoping to keep up the lighthearted mood between them.

"I'd estimate a delivery date around the first week of June," the tech told them. "Just in time for summer."

"And you're sure there's just one baby in there, right?" Emily couldn't help suddenly remembering a little fact that Reid had shared with her a few weeks ago.

"Positive," the tech assured her.

A few minutes later she wiped off Emily's stomach and handed Derek a screen shot of their baby. The doctor gave Emily the all clear and instructed her to schedule an appointment with her doctor as soon as she got home. Emily dressed while Morgan's eyes remained glued to the black and white photograph. As they walked down the hall toward the waiting area, Emily glanced over at Derek. "Are you okay?" she asked, noting that he kept looking at the picture and was very quiet.

"I think so," he replied.

Emily was a little worried about his shocked state of mind, but a big bit of worry in the pit of her stomach faded as a blur of dark pigtails and blue eyes careened around the corner and collided with her legs. Kacey firmly attached herself to her mother. Emily managed to get to her knees and hugged the girl nearly to the point of suffocation. When they pulled apart, just a little, Emily kissed her daughter's forehead. "I am so proud of you."

"Are you okay?" Kacey asked.

A reassuring nod came from Emily. "I'm fine, baby."

Kacey moved to Derek and was lifted into his welcoming arms. "You promised to get mommy back and you did," she kissed his cheek. Watching the two people she loved most in the world interact in such a loving manner gave Emily hope for their future together. She dug into her pocket and fished out the Kacey rock she'd been holding on to. It was presented to her daughter with regal grace. Kacey's face lit up even more. "I named the baby rock," she announced.

That news surprised Emily a great deal. "Really? What name did you pick?"

"His name is Derek Jr."

xxx

The cabin lights on the jet were still dimmed when Morgan slipped into the seat beside Emily, did up his seatbelt and then carefully roused her, one hand gently shaking her shoulder. He felt horrible waking her up, seeing how relaxed she and Kacey looked all curled up together in the corner seat. "We're landing," he whispered as her eyes opened to half slits. Derek reached over to take Kacey from her. He situated the girl on his lap and her sleepy head rested on his shoulder. Emily sat up and yawned. "Do you think Kacey knows something we don't about the baby?" Morgan asked.

"Hmm?" Emily was still foggy from sleep. She laid her head against his other shoulder, glad that he was near. "What do you mean?"

"She named the baby Derek Jr."

"She named the baby _rock_. I wouldn't take that too seriously," Emily intoned, fastening her seatbelt as she saw the runway lights outside her window. She checked to make sure Derek had Kacey in a secure position.

Morgan shrugged a little. "Maybe it's a big sister intuition thing. Sarah insisted that I was going to be a boy and she was right. Of course she also said Desi would be a boy, but I guess one out of two isn't bad," he chuckled as the back wheels touched down. Seconds later the front touched down as well.

Emily wore a soft smile, wondering if she was having another dream like all the ones she'd had while in Morris's prison. She and Derek hadn't yet talked about anything in regard to what was going to happen once they got home. JJ had gotten them all past the news crews at the hospital with minimal scathing. Then there'd been hours spent at the police station going over all the details of what had happened. After that Hotch had rushed them to the jet. Now, Derek seemed happy enough to be with her and Kacey, but she couldn't help feeling it was all just heat-of-the-moment. A mental sigh escaped her thoughts as she looked out the window again. The runway was mostly dark as they taxied, but the airport was all lit up and Emily soon realized that something wasn't quite right. "Where are we?"

"St. Louis," the answer came from Hotch who was seated across the aisle. "I figured you and Kacey could use some time here before we head back to Virginia. I can give you until tomorrow noon before we have to take off."

"I don't know how to thank you for this," Emily responded.

He shrugged. "It was a team decision."

"Well, I really appreciate it," Emily said with genuine gratitude. Somehow the BAU team had become more than just co-workers to her. "And I know you sacrificed time with your son two weeks ago to help Kacey and me."

Hotch allowed a hint of a smile to edge his lips. "Jack understands the job. And he's been asking me all about Kacey. He'd really like to meet her. He even told me that maybe he could help…" Hotch paused, taking a deep breath. "Because he understands what it's like to lose a parent."

She chewed her bottom lip as that unfortunate truth settled in. "Thank you," Emily whispered.

The team went to a nearby hotel while Derek drove Emily and Kacey to Lucas's house. Kacey slept the whole way and Morgan carried her upstairs to her bedroom where she would sleep one more night. When Derek rejoined Emily downstairs he discovered they had guests, two men carrying leather briefcases and bearing a striking resemblance to Lucas. "Patrick, Neil…" Emily addressed them. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your brother, but it's very late. Can this wait until morning?"

"Your mother contacted us to let us know you'd be flying in tonight. She wanted to be sure that all of this was finished as quickly as possible," Patrick explained as he pulled a thick legal document from his briefcase. "Full, legal, custody of Kacey belongs to you now," he spoke in a clinical manner. "And, in regard to Lucas's company, Neil and I attempted to contest our brother's wish that all stock and residuals go to Kacey."

"Why is that? She _is_ his daughter," Emily needlessly pointed out. "Did you think I was going to use the money for myself? If I'd been after Lucas's money I would have tried to force him to marry me all those years ago."

"Our reasoning really isn't important now," Neil responded. "Your mother's lawyers made it abundantly clear that our brother's Will would be carried out exactly as written. All you have to do is sign pages four, five, seven and nine," he directed her.

Emily wasn't sure how she felt about her mother's sudden involvement in the matter. It was a bit more than she could process at the moment. She quickly signed all the areas indicated. "Anything else?"

"The house, the business, life insurance… everything is in a trust for Kacey," Patrick informed her.

"And Kacey…" Emily looked each of them in the eye. "She's your niece. Do you ever want to have contact with her again?" The two of them turned, exited the room and left the house without another word. Emily shook her head as she regarded Derek. "I still don't know how Lucas ever managed to carve out anything for himself in that family." She tried to let it go, her eyelids feeling enormously heavy. "I am so unbelievably tired right now, but I feel kind of weird being here in Lucas's house. I don't know where to sleep. The sofa, maybe?"

"Kacey's bed is big enough for both of you," Morgan suggested. "And I don't think she should be up there alone."

Her eyes narrowed a little as she tried to gauge his emotions, but he wasn't revealing much to her. "And where are you going to sleep?"

"I'm not," his answer came quickly. "I plan on staying up all night, keeping watch."

"Derek, we're safe now," Emily tried to assure him. "Morris is gone. And if I know you, you've been going non-stop for two weeks. You really need to rest."

He shook his head. "Not tonight."

xxx

Derek stood several feet away as Emily and Kacey were huddled in front of Lucas's grave.

Morning dew seeped into the knees of Emily's pants. "Thank you for…" her voice cracked a little as she held on tighter to her daughter. "For Kacey."

The girl whispered something in her mother's ear and received a nod in reply. Kacey knelt in front of her father's headstone and placed two ladybug rocks atop it. "This is my doggy, Zebra. And my kitty, Blue. I want you to have them, daddy. I think in heaven you won't be allergic so you can have pets now. And maybe if you have a dog and a kitty you won't miss me so much," she told him. "I miss you, daddy. I love you."

As Morgan listened to Kacey he couldn't help traveling back in time to the day of his father's funeral. He remembered standing at the burial site trying not to cry. He'd wanted to be strong for his mother and sisters. Desiree had been Kacey's age; she'd clung to him, tears streaming down her face, not really understanding why their father wasn't coming home. He'd died a hero, just as Lucas had. But Derek knew that didn't make a damn bit of difference to those left grieving. He went to Kacey and scooped her up in his arms. "He'll always be with you, Kacey," he whispered, letting her cry as long as she needed.

Thankfully, their solemn morning turned into a happier afternoon when Molly greeted them at the airport and gave Kacey a stack of cards that her first grade class and teacher had made for her. "I love you, Molly," Kacey hugged her nanny.

"I love you, too, Kacey," the young woman replied.

Emily watched them for a moment, still fighting down her jealousy. She finally faced Molly. "I wish it could have been me with her these past five years, but thank you for taking such good care of her. I hope you'll keep in touch," Emily insisted.

Molly nodded her agreement and waved them off. Emily and Kacey were escorted the rest of the way to the jet by Garcia, JJ and Reid. It was nearly a half hour later when Derek finally boarded and made his way toward the table where Kacey was coloring. Emily looked to him, wondering again about their future. "You disappeared for a while," she noted.

"Sorry, but I had about a dozen boxes of stuffed animals to make sure got into the cargo hold," his eyes shifted to Kacey and he smiled. "I also had a very important errand to run," he sunk down into the seat beside the girl, across from Emily. Morgan sat a paper bag down in front of Kacey. "I know this is a little late for breakfast, and it took me a while to follow through, but I always keep my promises." He presented her with a small bottle of chocolate milk and a container of peaches.

Kacey's eyes glistened with a mixture of excitement and a hint of sadness. She wrapped her little arms around Derek's neck. "Thank you," she whispered.

As the child dug into her meal, Emily caught Morgan's eye. She mouthed her own thank you to him. "And for you," Derek reached into the bag again and pulled something out. He slid the package across the table to Emily. "Kacey mentioned that you've been putting peanut butter on everything lately. So, I figured peanut butter cookies would be a safe bet. But..." his hand went to the bag again and he removed several more items. "If you don't like that I also have peanut butter crackers, roasted peanuts and I even found a small jar of peanut butter at the airport shop," Morgan grinned.

"What, no Fruit Loops?" she teased.

xxx

Kacey was in bed by seven that night, worn out by the last few days of physical and emotional upheaval. But she hadn't been apprehensive at all about her new living quarters and settled easily into the guest bedroom in Emily's place. Emily hoped her daughter's other transitions in the new surroundings, especially starting at a different school, would be as simple. She and Derek stood in the open doorway watching Kacey sleep. "After all she's been through, being taken from her home and then abducted a second time, do you think she'll ever feel safe anywhere again?" Emily wondered aloud.

"She'll feel safe wherever we are," Morgan replied.

Her eyes slid his way. "We?"

Derek placed his hands on Emily's shoulders and turned her around so she was fully facing him. "If you think I'm walking away now you're crazy."

She wanted to believe him. There were still doubts, though. "But we haven't really discussed anything. And it seems like you've been tiptoeing around me the last twenty-four hours. You haven't even kissed me since we were reunited. And a few weeks ago you were pretty leery of having kids in your life."

He nodded. There was no denying any of what she'd just said. "But a whole hell of a lot has changed since then."

Emily swallowed nervously. "So, Mr. I'm-not-sure-about-this-kid-business is now ready for a six year old, a dog, a cat, and a newborn?" she asked.

"Actually," Derek ran his fingers affectionately along her cheek. "I was thinking maybe we could start Kacey off with a goldfish," he responded.

A smile crept onto her face, but she knew he was still avoiding the bigger issues. "And the newborn?" Emily challenged.

"I won't lie to you, Em. This baby scares the crap out of me," he revealed. But his right hand went to her belly. Morgan recalled what she'd told him about being scared when Kacey was born, so he hoped she wouldn't freak out by his honest answer. "When I saw that car go over the bridge I thought… I thought you were dead. But it was more than that. I thought it was my fault, I thought I'd killed you."

His words broke her heart. "Derek, you had to make a decision. You tried to stop him and you did. It was a risk you had to take," she insisted, biting back tears. "Just like I risked Kacey's life by sending her off on her own. In the dark. In the fog. She could have been hit by a car or taken by someone else… someone who could have…" Emily pressed her lips together for a second. "I made a tough decision and so did you. But we're still here, all three of us."

"Four of us," he countered.

She nodded happily at his inclusion of the baby. "So…" Emily took his hand and guided him away from Kacey's open door. She left the hall light on for the girl and lead Derek toward her bedroom. "Did you know I've spent the last two weeks sharing a bed with a six year old?"

"Oh, yeah?" his voice was low as they stopped beside her bed. He leaned in and softly kissed her neck in several sensitive places.

"Yeah," she moaned appreciatively at his affectionate ministrations. "And she kicked a lot, but I guess I need to get used to that," Emily grinned as Derek's hands rubbed against her mostly flat tummy. His kisses slowly, and teasingly, moved closer to her mouth. "Also," she whispered. "These baby making hormones have been making so damn horny lately."

He laughed against her skin, his warm breath causing goose bumps to rise. "So, you just want me to stick around for the sex?"

"No," Emily reached out and removed his shirt in one swift motion. Then she placed her palms against his chest and pushed him down onto the bed. She crawled toward him and straddled his legs. "I want you to make love to me and then I want you to sleep beside me all night," she told him, placing small kisses along his bare chest as she spoke. "And I want to wake up next to you tomorrow morning and every morning after that. And I really, really want you to kiss me properly right now."

Morgan grinned desirously and finally pressed his lips to hers.

xxx

Emily woke up the next morning with aching muscles and a happy smile. She looked over to see Kacey curled up beside Derek. They'd both been glad about their decision to put some semblance of clothing back on after making love, because the six-year-old had crawled into bed with them just after midnight. She'd stayed the rest of the night with them, and Emily guessed that was going to be a habit they'd eventually have to wean her out of, especially when the new baby arrived.

She tried to go back to sleep, but her stomach was having none of it. Emily carefully peeled herself away from the warm bed. It had felt like heaven to sleep in her bed again, but even better sleeping while wrapped up in Derek's arms. She slipped a robe on and padded downstairs to her kitchen where she riffled though the cupboards and found little to eat that hadn't spoiled in her absence. Thankfully there was a loaf of bread in the freezer and Derek's jar of airport peanut butter. Emily pried two slices of frozen whole wheat apart and popped them into the toaster.

"The bed misses you," Derek's voice floated to her as he made his way down the stairs. He met her in the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "But I miss you more," he whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"Are you going soft on me, Derek Morgan?" she asked with laughter at the edge of her throat.

He nodded against her shoulder. "Completely." His hands undid the tie on her robe and roamed the soft curves of her body the way he had the night before. "I think we should go shopping today," he suddenly announced. "Because I think these ladies have probably outgrown everything they have to wear."

"Oh, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Baby hormones will make them even bigger," Emily let him know.

"I have no problem with that," Derek replied.

Her head shook as she shrugged him away. "You are such a guy." She moved toward the front door and called over her shoulder. "Don't let my toast burn." Emily couldn't stop smiling as she peeked through the viewer in her door to see if there was a newspaper. She didn't spot one, but there was something else outside her door. She threw the lock open and bent down to retrieve the white envelope. "I could have sworn I paid the newspaper delivery bill," Emily said as she returned to the kitchen, waving the envelope at him. "They probably think I died or something."

Derek was spreading peanut butter on her toast as she ripped the item open. "Don't joke about that," he said.

Emily winced, realizing he was still sensitive about the accident he'd caused. "Sorry." She flipped open the paper inside the envelope and it took her several seconds to comprehend what she was reading. It was most certainly not a bill. "What the hell is this… someone's idea of bad joke?"

Morgan moved closer so he could read the note over her shoulder. "Doris is dead. She's with Katie and Courtney and my other child now. I've lost almost everything I ever cared about, but I won't lose the one thing I have left. Remember we made a deal, Emily. And I still plan to follow through on my end. That baby will be mine."

"He couldn't have written that," Emily's voice quaked. "He's dead. You saw him in the car. He went off the bridge. Right?"

"Emily, he…" Derek paused. "They pulled the car out of the lake yesterday morning and only Doris was strapped inside. They haven't found Morris."

She swallowed. "How do you know that?"

"Hotch told me yesterday… before we boarded the plane in St. Louis," Morgan revealed.

Fire danced in her eyes. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I wanted you and Kacey to have at least one night without worrying about anything," he shook his head in remorse. "I'm sorry."

Emily tried to wrap her mind around the news, but she couldn't. "Do you think he's alive?"

A heavy sigh escaped ahead of his words. "I don't know, Em," Derek honestly told her. "He could be."

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 13

By N. J. Borba

* * *

On Monday morning they stepped off the elevator and walked toward the glass entry doors. Derek had Kacey at his hip, carting her around like a proud father. Emily walked beside them. For all intents and purposes they looked like a happy family unit. But there were scars lurking just beneath the surface, both physical and emotional. They'd spent the rest of their Sunday shopping, eating, playing… doing everything they could to assure Kacey that life was going to get back to normal.

Emily had forgiven Derek for keeping the news about Morris a secret. She was still hanging on to some of her anger, though, mainly because it was a good way to cover up just how afraid she was of the possibility that Morris was still out there gunning for them. Her worry wasn't as great for herself and the baby as it was for Kacey. Morris had already proven his willingness to use the girl as leverage, and Emily couldn't fool herself into thinking he wouldn't try to get his hands on her again.

Derek pushed one of the doors open with his right hand and held it for Emily. He and Kacey followed her in and the bullpen erupted into applause. Kacey turned curious eyes toward Derek. "Why are the people clapping?" she asked.

"Because they're happy you and your mommy are safe," he explained.

Kacey joined in, smiling and clapping. "I'm happy, too," she let them know.

People stood beside their desks and patted Emily on the shoulder as she walked by. And her desk was littered with cards and flowers. For someone who liked to keep a low profile, suddenly her life had become front page news, broadcast from one end of the country to the next. That sort of limelight was something her mother had always handled well, but not her. As a child there'd been mandatory appearances made at parties and other important gatherings, but afterwards she'd always managed to find a place to hide. She was glad now when everyone resumed work and left them alone.

Reid walked the few steps from his desk to Emily's and pointed out a red gift bag. "That one's from me."

A real smile appeared on Emily's face. She'd long had an affinity for the awkward doctor. Even when he'd been going through a rough patch and gave her the cold shoulder, Emily stuck it out because she felt an odd kinship with him. Suddenly she didn't mind the attention so much and grabbed his gift. Emily sifted through the tissue paper and pulled out a shiny item. "It's an MP3 player," she stated. "I think I have one, but thank you."

"Not just that…" Reid reached over and pulled out a pair of oversized headphones. "These are for womb listening. And the player has all parts of the Spock vs. Q production downloaded on it." He grinned sheepishly, hoping she'd like the gift.

Morgan rolled his eyes at the younger man. "Gee, thanks. For JJ you offer up advice on classic composers, but you want to nerd up my kid from the start."

Emily and Reid chuckled. She hugged him; touched that his gift harkened back on a conversation they'd all had a few weeks ago. Although it seemed like a lifetime ago considering all they'd been through since. "Thank you, Reid. This means a lot to me."

"Who's Spock and Q?" Kacey asked as Derek put her down on her feet.

"Maybe Reid can explain while we're at our meeting," Emily looked to the doctor. "There aren't a lot of people I'd trust to watch her, and I really don't think explaining ourselves to Strauss will be helped by the presence of a six-year-old," she explained her worry.

Reid nodded and Kacey removed a small backpack from her shoulders. "I brought checkers," she told him.

"I prefer chess," Spencer replied. "Much more of a challenge."

Derek glared at Reid. "She's six years old, man. You'll play checkers with her."

The doctor agreed to Morgan's order with another nod as Emily kissed her daughter. "Be good, and don't wander away. You need to stay right here with Reid. Whatever he says goes, okay?" she asked, hoping she wasn't coming on too strong. The one point she had made clear to Derek was that she didn't want Kacey to know about the possibility of Morris being alive.

Finally Morgan had to drag Emily away. "She'll be fine," he insisted as they walked down the corridor. He did his best not to walk too closely or reach for her hand. It was difficult keeping his distance from Emily, but their jobs were hanging in the balance at the moment and he didn't want to exacerbate matters.

"'Twas a month before Christmas and all through the BAU, not a creature was attempting to take away people's jobs… except for Strauss," Emily whispered.

"Stop it," Derek chided.

"I just wonder if there'll be lumps of coal in our BAU stockings," Emily couldn't help the jokes. None of them had the greatest relationship with Strauss, but she'd started off a bit worse than most. Emily had lobbied to be put on the team as a new challenge in the wake of losing Kacey, and also a bit of thumb-to-nose in regards to her family's desire for her to follow in their footsteps. But she'd never guessed her assignment to the BAU would come with spying duties and she'd very quickly made it clear to Strauss that wasn't going to fly with her. She still wasn't entirely sure where she stood with Strauss, and the woman had once promised Hotch that none of them would ever advance, so Emily was imagining the worse. "Seriously… are we going to be 'all for one, one for all' on this or everyone for themselves?"

His smile peeked out for a moment as he glanced her way. "Musketeers all the way," he replied. Derek knocked at the woman's door and they received a curt 'enter' command. He and Emily took seats across from Strauss and placed the ball in her court.

Hair perfectly coifed and body stiffly poised in her seat, Strauss began. "Do the two of you believe you are somehow above the bureau's fraternization rules?"

"No," Derek replied.

"No, ma'am," Emily echoed his answer. She always found herself reverting to childhood manners when faced with authority, having been taught to use ma'am and sir when addressing a superior.

"So, you both admit to breaking these rules?" Strauss asked.

"I'll resign," Emily responded before anything else could be said.

Derek's head turned toward her and his mouth hung open. "You'll what?"

Emily's eyes remained focused on Strauss even though she could feel Derek's gaze slicing through her. "Agent Morgan has seniority here, and I have a child to take care of. And another one on the way. He should stay and I'll…"

Strauss sat forward a little, resting her elbows on the desk. Her eyes narrowed to thin slits. "Agent Prentiss, do you think it's not possible for a woman to have a career in the bureau as well as raise a family?" she challenged.

"Well…" Emily couldn't help stare at the photos of the three children on the older woman's desk. She swallowed nervously. "It's just that Kacey and I have already missed out on five years together. And it makes more sense for me to leave than Morgan."

The director sat back again, hands folded in her lap. "There's been some lobbying from within the bureau to revamp the fraternization rules. It seems… _things_… have been going on for years that bureau employees have managed to keep quiet. Two agents in the Seattle field office recently revealed their marital status."

"Meaning what, exactly?" Emily queried.

"I've been given the authority to review your case," Strauss stated. "Meaning… I can decide whether one or both of you will be reassigned or let go. As of now I'm placing you both on administrative leave pending further assessment of your situation."

Morgan and Emily nodded numbly and stood. They turned, exited the office and didn't speak a word until they were a goodly distance down the hall. Finally Emily looked to him with a shrug. "Was that coal or not?"

Derek couldn't help chuckling at her comment. "I'm not sure," he boldly took her hand in his as they made their way back to the bullpen. They found Reid and Kacey huddled over the checker board on his desk.

Kacey had her hand on one of the red checkers. She took a moment to review the board and then made her move, jumping over five of Reid's black checkers and ending with an excited exclamation of, "King me!"

Spencer stared at the board, not quite comprehending how she'd just taken his last five pieces in one turn. His eyes rose to meet Emily and Derek. "You knew about this, didn't you? You let a six-year-old hustle me out of two bags of pretzels," he accused.

Emily laughed. "She beat me so many times when we were locked away, I finally stopped agreeing to play with her."

Reid and Morgan both looked rather uncomfortable at her mention of them being locked away, but Kacey smiled up at her mother. Their incarceration had been both a horrible ordeal and also a time of bonding. Hotch and Rossi approached the small group. Their presence cut through some of the stagnant tension in the room. "How did it go?" Hotch asked.

"Administrative leave pending further assessment of the situation," Morgan repeated Strauss's words verbatim.

Hotch nodded and left it at that. "I rushed the analysis of that note you brought it yesterday," he looked down at Kacey, trying to keep from saying anything she'd understand. "We're all gathering in a minute to discuss it. I'd like for you both to be there, strictly as witnesses given your leave orders," he eyed the checker board and Reid. "I'm afraid we'll need your baby-sitter at the meeting as well," Hotch informed Emily.

She and Morgan exchanged a brief glance and they both agreed. Anderson was called over and given instructions not to take his eyes off Kacey for a single second. The rest of them moved to the conference room. Garcia and JJ joined the group minutes later and the media liaison immediately lapsed into a rundown of the situation. "The note was obviously typed, so no handwriting analysis could be performed. There were a few partial prints, but nothing on record. The sheet is standard 8-1/2 by 11 printer paper, which could have come from any office supply store. And the technicians say it was printed on an ink jet rather than laser."

"If this is Morris, he somehow survived that crash and made it all the way to the east coast without anyone recognizing him," Rossi pondered.

"He could have swum to shore without being seen," JJ suggested. "You were all distracted by Emily's arrival and headed back to town right away. And the rescue crews took another hour or so to reach the site."

Derek frowned. "But to even survive a crash like that... I was there, it was a bad crash."

"Airbags deployed," Hotch recalled from the reports he'd read. He looked to Garcia. "Did you check Benson out?"

She nodded. "Matthew Lyle Benson was born and raised in southern Oregon, upstanding citizen and former fire fighter. Everything he told Emily about working at the airport in Prospect is true. He's been married for thirty-seven years, two grown kids, three grandchildren and not even a single black mark on his credit check."

"What about someone trying to cash in on all of this?" Derek spoke up again.

JJ latched on to his words. "After Toher's ransom demand news reporters spread around the fact that Lucas Donovan was wealthy, and stories even slipped out about how everything in Donovan's will went to Kacey. Maybe this _is_ just some complete stranger trying to get money."

"I doubt this is a stranger," Emily said. "The note mentioned the deal I made with Morris, about giving him the baby," her hands rested against her belly as she spoke, still feeling horribly guilty every time she mentioned that pact she'd made with the devil. Even though she'd never had any intention of following through with it, it still haunted her. "No one else could have known about that."

"That's not true," Reid interjected. "I was there when you made that deal, and so was Cory Davis."

Rossi shook his head. "Davis is still in jail in Springfield, awaiting trial," he noted.

"He could've had someone plant the note for him," Hotch suggested.

"Um, okay…" Garcia interrupted. "Can we back up a few steps here, because I'm still curious why Morris would put Emily in Benson's trunk and take off, if he was just going to come back to torment her again."

"Morris got spooked," Emily answered, trying to fill in her own blanks. "When he realized Kacey was gone he knew he didn't have much time so he tried to get me on the plane, but due to the ice on the ground he couldn't fly. By that time he'd probably heard reports about you guys getting close."

Spencer jumped in. "And it's likely he'd been to the Prospect airstrip several times before, so he'd seen Benson's car. If Benson was there all the time, maybe Morris thought it was an abandoned vehicle."

"So he leaves Emily and tries to get away, thinking he can return later when everything's died down," Hotch added to their supposition.

Morgan nodded. "That makes sense with how he was driving. He had no plans to slow down when he saw the road block I'd created. Morris was definitely trying to punch his way through. If he was able to survive that crash, I imagine he was determined enough to make his way here to retrieve what he thinks is rightfully his."

"If he's here, he didn't take a plane, train or rental car. At least not that I can find. There's no paper or electronic trail for him," Garcia said. "I did find out that the plane he was using belonged to a man named Greg Wilton. He was an agent at the Springfield office where Morris worked. Apparently Wilton didn't have any family, so when he died a year ago I imagine Morris just sort of borrowed the plane, which is how he was able to fly under my radar," she concluded.

"Morris wouldn't shy away from stealing a car or even hitchhiking," Derek guessed.

Hotch nodded his agreement to that statement. "There's not enough evidence to prove this is Morris, but someone's trying to spook you," the team leader aimed his words at Emily. "I'm assigning protection for you and Kacey."

"No," Emily instantly protested. "I don't want Kacey to know what's going on."

"Telling Kacey or not is up to you," Hotch said. "Although, if it was my child I'd make damn sure they knew to keep their guard up. But whether or not you tell Kacey is beside the point. I _am_ putting guards on you. I'll make sure they're discrete, but this point is not negotiable."

xxx

"Well, that was oodles of fun," the sarcasm dripped from Emily's tongue as she slid into the passenger's seat of Derek SUV. Kacey was already strapped into the back in her new booster seat, which Derek had insisted on buying the day before. Emily peeked through the rearview mirror to see that her daughter was preoccupied with a book. She turned to Derek. "For the record, this really sucks."

He grinned, taking one of her hands in his and kissing her knuckles. "I know, stubborn woman," Derek acknowledged. He gently dropped the hand to her lap and started the vehicle. "Your doctor's appointment isn't until this afternoon," he noted as they pulled out of the parking garage. "So, what trouble are we going to get into until then?" Morgan looked back at Kacey. "Perhaps some school visits?"

"Yes," the girl replied enthusiastically.

"Definitely," Emily agreed, hoping to get Kacey back into a routine as soon as possible. She'd enjoyed her time spent teaching Kacey, but she knew her daughter craved the socialization of a school environment. Emily reclined against the leather seat. "But there's one place I need to go first." She directed Derek on how to get to their destination, and they arrived thirty minutes later.

Morgan held Emily's hand and she held fast to Kacey's hand as they stood in the antechamber and waited while the assistant announced their presence to the Ambassador. In times past Emily had been nervous visiting her mother, but never so much as she was now with Derek and Kacey in tow. Still, after so many years, she wanted her mother's approval of things. It seemed silly, but it was something she just couldn't seem to let go of.

Elizabeth Prentiss greeted them with silence for a long moment until she broke formation and hugged her daughter. "You have no idea how worried I was about you."

Emily felt an internal dam break as they pulled apart. "I wanted to thank you for what you did, helping to expedite Lucas's will."

"I would have helped you five years ago if you'd asked," Elizabeth replied. A tug at her arm brought her attention down to the girl standing in front of her.

"Mommy says you're my grandma," Kacey spoke. "Did you know my middle name is Elizabeth?"

"I did know that," the woman smiled. It was not the perfunctory smile she used to greet dignitaries, but rather a true reflection of her emotions at the moment. And it created creases along her mouth that had clearly not been used enough. "You look so much like your mother when she was your age," Elizabeth replied.

Kacey grinned and looked to her mother and Derek. "We should add more rocks to the ladybug family so they can have a grandma, too."

Derek tried not to laugh as he faced Emily's mother. He extended his hand to her. "It's good to see you again, ambassador."

Elizabeth shook his hand. "If the stories I read in the news are true, you're to be the father of my future grandchild," she stated. "I hope this means you'll be getting married. That Lucas fellow never bothered to ask her, you know. And then he stole her daughter."

"Mother," Emily snapped. At least the first few minutes had been civil. "Please don't," she pleaded, looking to Kacey with an apologetic glance for what her mother had just said about the child's father. "You can either be happy for us, or we can walk away right now." Emily recalled what her mother had said about helping her out five years ago. Her life would have been completely different, and most likely wouldn't have included Derek. It was hard to reconcile the loss of her time with Kacey in exchange for having met Derek. But she did her best to put those thoughts aside, because she had them both in her life now and that was all that mattered.

"Emily, I do want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted." Elizabeth replied. "I suppose I've just never been good at relaying that to you," she admitted. The woman took a deep breath and walked to her desk where she thumbed through a stack of papers. She pulled one free. "This is a gift for all of you, and marriage is not a requirement," she assured them, handing the paper to her daughter.

"A flyer about a house for sale?" Emily looked to her mother with questioning eyes.

"Your father and I were thinking about selling it a few years ago," Elizabeth explained. "But it's yours now if you want it. I figured you could use the extra space with your growing family. You can go and take a look at it if you wish, I have the keys here." She watched her daughter stare at the page again. "You don't remember it, do you? Of course you were only three when I received my first assignment and we moved to Russia. But this..." she stepped forward and pointed to the picture of the house. "Your father and I brought you home from the hospital to that house, you learned to crawl there and walk and talk."

Her mother's words didn't spark any memories, but Emily was touched nonetheless. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll look at it," Elizabeth offered. "If you hate it that's fine, you can sell it and find another place you like. But it's a gift either way. It's yours."

Another half hour drive put them in front of a large Colonial brick house with manicured hedges along the property. The solid wood front door was painted forest green and it opened into a foyer that was cozy, not large and cold as Emily had been expecting for some reason. Kacey dashed off, flitting from room to room as she explored the house. Emily and Derek followed her around. The whole place was warm and livable. It had four bedrooms and three baths, but still seemed intimate in scale.

Morgan stood behind Emily as they returned to the entry and faced the main stairs. He rested his chin against her left shoulder. "I can just about picture a toddler sized Prentiss crawling up and down those stairs."

"I wish I remembered living here," she replied.

"Maybe we can make new memories here," he suggested.

"Mommy!" Kacey dashed into the room and skidded to a stop in front of them. "There's a pool in the back!"

They'd already seen the pool info on the flyer and knew the house was worth more than either of them could have afforded on their own. The property taxes alone would probably require them to both work full time. But Kacey was obviously already in love with it. "I think that means it's sold, so to speak," Derek grinned.

"Can I go swimming now?" Kacey asked.

"No," Emily sighed. "It's twenty-three degrees outside."

Morgan saw the disappointed frown on Kacey's face. He lovingly patted her on the head while addressing Emily. "Your mother was right about this place; the extra space will be great. And just in time for my family's Christmas visit."

"Your family's what?" Emily looked at him with a mixed expression of confusion and trepidation.

"They can't wait to see you and meet Kacey," his smile faltered when he finally noticed the unease in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged. "It's just a lot to take in right now. What if I mess this up? I've been living on my own for a long time and suddenly I've got you and Kacey and there'll be a baby soon, and we have to think about schools. I mean, it's only grade school now, but before long it will be high school and then college and… and there's that other issue looming over our heads, and potty training…" she stared at him nervously. "I never had to potty train Kacey."

"Hey," Derek placed his hands on her shoulders. "Take some deep breaths, okay. Stress isn't good for you or the baby."

"Hunh," she rolled her eyes. "I think it's a little too late for that," Emily pointed out.

He kissed her forehead. "Let's take care of one issue at a time. As far as grade schools go, St. Mary's is really close."

"St. Mary's?" she questioned. "A Catholic school?"

Morgan was the one who took a deep breath. "Kacey started at a Catholic school in St. Louis and she seemed to really like it there," he began. "I know I've had a few issues with faith as an adult, but I don't regret the way I was brought up. And I understand that you've had some trouble with the church as well, but maybe our children will get something out of it that we never did," he said. "I plan to raise them so they know they can choose any religious, spiritual, or whatever path they want when they're of an age to make that decision. But I'd like to give them something to start with."

Emily admired his conviction. "And you were worried you wouldn't be any good at this parenting stuff."

"It's the dirty diapers that really scare me," Derek said. He was only half joking. "So… St. Mary's, yes or no?"

"I can't believe I'm agreeing, but yes."

"And the house?"

"I like the house," Emily replied.

"Me, too," he agreed. "Mostly I like that it doesn't need any work. I think this new daddy gig is going to mean fewer days of renovation work for me."

She looked a little saddened by his statement. "Derek, I don't want you to give up the things you love doing."

"I didn't say I was giving it up completely. But love is about compromise, right?" He kissed her softly on the lips. "Well, I love you and Kacey and the baby more than anything. I'm in this with you, Emily. The good, the bad and even the dirty diapers," he promised.

xxx

Derek snatched a sugar cookie from the baking sheet and received a hand swat from his mother. "Hey, this is my house," he protested.

"But _my_ cookies," Fran winked at her son as she helped Kacey roll out another batch for cutting.

He kept his cookie, bit off the snowman's head, chewed, and moved into the living room where Emily and his sisters were huddled around an old photo album and laughing hysterically. "He was completely naked except for the towel around his neck and he was running as fast as he could down the street while shouting at the top of his lungs: _I's Superman!_ It took daddy a whole block before he finally caught up with him," Sarah explained.

"Oh, come on," Morgan groaned, knowing exactly what story his older sister was telling. "Give me a break, I was three years old." He sat down on the sofa arm beside Emily and leaned down to talk to her stomach. "Please be a boy, I need to even things out here a little," he whispered.

Christmas had snuck up on them fast. There'd been no further contact from whoever was taunting them, which was a good thing. There'd also been no news from Strauss, which was either good or bad. At least it had left Emily and Derek with plenty of time to move and settle into the new house. They'd even painted one of the spare rooms a pale shade of green and bought all white baby furniture. Despite Kacey's insistence of calling the baby Junior, and Derek's initial interest, they'd decided to be surprised about the sex of the baby on the big day. And Kacey had settled into her new school, fully caught up and loving it. For the most part, their lives had returned to normal, or as normal as possible given the circumstances.

The doorbell chimed and Derek jumped to his feet, grateful to have a distraction from all the female hormones in his house. He looked through the viewer and rolled his eyes. So much for that wish, he thought as he opened the door to a fancily dressed Strauss. "Director…" he wasn't exactly sure how to greet her. Finally Morgan settled on the obvious. "Happy Christmas Eve."

"Agent Morgan," Strauss said as she stepped in out of the cold. "I was on my way to a party and your house was along the route. Thought I'd save you a trip."

Kacey came barreling into the foyer and stopped short of slamming into Strauss, which was good since her hands and face were covered in flour. "Oh," she looked at the woman with a note of disappointment. "I thought maybe you was Santa."

Emily joined them, trying to stifle the laughter in the back of her throat at the thought of Strauss being mistaken for Santa Clause. "Why don't you go help grandma Fran finish the cookies, kiddo," she suggested to Kacey.

Strauss wasted no time once the girl was gone. "The BAU is filling slots on a new team; a group which will focus mainly on bombing and arson investigations. Due to your expertise, agent Morgan, you're being offered the supervisor position. The team is yours if you want it." Strauss's gaze flicked from Derek to Emily and back again. "The two of you will still be based at Quantico, just not working together on a daily basis. If you agree to this offer, you'll both be reinstated to active duty after the first of the year. If you don't agree then I'll expect to see letters of resignation on my desk. Now, if you'll excuse me, I can't be late for my gathering."

She let herself out, and Emily looked to Derek. "I think maybe the Grinch's heart just grew three sizes," Emily quipped.

His head shook. "Why do I get the feeling our children's mouths are going to get them sent to the principal's office a lot," he teased her, draping an arm across her shoulders. "So, what do you think about her offer?"

"It's the lead on your own team," a proud smile curled her lips, even as she worried about the new job. Bombing and arson investigation was dangerous territory, but their jobs had always been risky. Of course, they'd never had kids to consider before. "I think you should do it."

He wore a half smile, still weighing the job opportunity when the doorbell rang again. "Perhaps the Grinch isn't done with us yet." Morgan looked through the peep hole again and he grinned. "Get Kacey," he told Emily.

When the girl returned, Derek was crouched down in front of the partially opened door. "I think this belongs to you," he said as he handed her a thick red strap.

Kacey grasped the strap and pulled the door open to reveal what was at the other end of the leash. Her eyes widened in surprise to see the German Shepherd sitting perfectly still in front of her. Even in a seated position, the dog's head nearly came up to Kacey's full height. "It's a doggie," she finally said after her initial surprise wore off. "Is it my doggie?"

Derek nodded, stroking the dog's head. "This is Ginger."

"Hi, Ginger," Kacey greeted. The dog raised its left front paw and the girl took it in one hand, grinning brightly. "She shook my hand."

"Ginger is two years old and was trained to work with the DC police, but she had to retire due to a lack of funding," Derek explained to the girl. "She knows a lot of commands and I'm going to teach them all to you so you can be her caretaker. It's a very big responsibility. You'll have to walk her, feed her and play with her. Do you think you can handle all that?"

Her little head nodded vigorously and she hugged him. "Thank you, Derek. She's the best dog ever. Can I show her my room?"

"Sure," Morgan said as he got to his feet.

Emily watched as her daughter bounded up the stairs with the dog at her heels. "What the heck was that?" she asked Derek.

"Ginger's a German Shepherd," he responded.

"I know, and she's huge," Emily noted. "What happened to starting Kacey off with a goldfish?"

"I thought about it, and goldfish don't make very good guard dogs."

Her face softened a little. "So, this is about Kacey's safety."

"Absolutely," Morgan replied. "I've had my friend, Gary, working with Ginger for the last two weeks. He's been training her with pictures of Kacey, so she'll be familiar with us from the start. And Gary has a six-month-old baby boy whom Ginger has been very gentle with. I assure you I'd never let an animal in this house unless I was sure it was safe for Kacey and the baby. And Kacey really wanted a dog. Did you see how happy she was?"

"Derek, you don't have to buy her love. She already thinks you're great."

He drew her closer, arms snaking around her waist. A single kiss was pressed to her lips. "I just want this Christmas to be special for her, and us," Derek said. "It's our first Christmas together. And next year will be baby's first Christmas and Kacey might feel a little left out. I don't ever want her to feel left out."

"With you on the job, I'm sure she never will," Emily kissed him again.

"Speaking of not being left out, I have a gift for you somewhere…" He patted the back pockets of his pants and then the front. Derek finally fished the item out of the front right pocket as Kacey, Ginger, his mom and sisters all flooded into the room, seeming to sense what was about to happen. Morgan held the solitary diamond ring in one hand. "I wanted to do this a while ago, but I was waiting for mama to deliver the ring. My father gave this ring to my mother. It was her engagement ring, and the ring that was blessed at their wedding ceremony. It was the ring she wore all the years they were married. And I want it to be the ring you wear as my wife," he got down on his knee and looked up at her. "Emily, will you marry me?"

Tears pricked her eyes. "Derek, it's beautiful, but it's a family heirloom. I can't accept it," she shook her head. "It should go to your sisters."

He glanced over his shoulder to where the Morgan women were all smiling with anticipation. "Mama and the girls already agreed they want you to have it," Derek let her know. "And the whole point of a proposal is to make you part of my family. So, is that your only protest to my proposal?"

"Pretty much," she nodded.

"Then… are you going to say yes? Or am I gonna have to tickle it out of you?" Derek playfully threatened her.

Emily grinned. "Yes."

"Yes to what?" he asked for clarification. "Yes to the tickling or…"

"Yes, Derek," she interrupted him. "I _will_ marry you."

xxx

The bedroom was softly lit by a single lamp. It was quiet as they lay wrapped in each other's embrace, the happy afterglow of their love making still lingering close to their hearts. Derek kissed her ring finger just below the diamond, marveling at the fact that she was now his fiancée. His hands moved downward and pushed away her nightgown so he could caress the small belly bump that had formed in recent weeks. He looked her in the eye. "I feel it's my duty to inform you that you're glowing."

"The glowing thing is a myth," Emily replied.

He shook his head and trailed a finger along the left side of her face. "Nope, this is genuine baby glow." Morgan's index finger then circled her bellybutton. "Feeling the baby start to grow makes it seem more real to me."

"I hate to burst your bubble, but that's mostly fat you're feeling right there," Emily replied. "The baby is still really small."

"Well, it's fat for the baby. That's good fat," he assured her.

She scoffed. "Its peanut butter fat."

Derek smiled and repositioned himself so that his lips were resting against her belly. "What do you think, peanut? Do you like mommy's extra fat?" he asked. Morgan waited a few seconds with his ear pressed against her stomach, as if he were listening for a response. He looked up at Emily. "Yep, the baby definitely approves of the mommy fat. And our little peanut agrees that you're glowing."

Emily's face lit up. "I knew if you gave yourself half a chance you'd be good at this daddy stuff."

He put his lips to her tummy again. "I should warn you now that mommy's always right. Don't try to fight her, you will lose," he chuckled.

Barking pierced their tranquility and echoed through the house. Emily frowned. "I thought you said she was trained."

"She is," Morgan sat up. "But this is still a new place to get used to. It'll take her some time to adjust." The words were barely out of his mouth when Ginger started barking loudly again. "Maybe I should check on her."

"Maybe you shouldn't let her stay in Kacey's room," Emily said. "Ginger's probably keeping her awake."

Derek stood and pulled on a t-shirt to go along with his boxer briefs. "It's Christmas Eve, Em… do you really think Kacey's getting much sleep?" he shook his head in a doubtful manner, not really expecting an answer. The dog barked again and a goofy grin formed on his face. "Maybe she's barking at Santa."

Ginger's barking suddenly grew much louder and was punctuated by the sound of shattering glass. Kacey's frightened screams filled the house at the same time. "That's not Santa!" Emily shouted as she flew out of bed.

Morgan was already racing down the hall. He threw open the door to Kacey's room. There hadn't been time to grab his gun or any sort of weapon, but Derek was prepared to take on anyone he found with his bare hands. They were clenched into tight fists and held in front of his chest in a defensive stance as he scanned the room. Kacey slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I saw the bad man, Derek. He was at the window," she cried.

Ginger was standing in front of the broken window, still snarling, her snout pointed and her tail at attention. Derek quickly passed Kacey off to Emily when she entered the room. He carefully stepped around the broken glass and glanced out of the second story window. There was a ladder propped against the house and a shadowy figure was moving speedily down the sidewalk on foot. Derek didn't say a word as he shot out of the room past Emily and Kacey, and further past his mother and sisters who had gathered in the hall. He sprinted down the stairs, out the front door and onto the sidewalk. The icy cold concrete sent a chill up his spine, but he took off in the direction he'd seen the figure moving earlier.

Street lights provided small puddles of illumination every few feet, but the figure had disappeared. Derek stopped at the intersection at the end of their block and looked both ways. He scanned as far as he could in the dark, but there was no sign of anyone. "Damn it," he swore, beating his hands against his sides. Morgan reluctantly admitted defeat and jogged back to the house. Upstairs he found Kacey cuddled up beside his mother on the bed. His sisters hovered nearby. And Emily looked pale as a ghost as she stood with a large rock in one hand and a slip of paper in the other.

"It's another note," she said.

Morgan went to her and took the page. He read it aloud, not thinking they needed to keep things quiet from Kacey any longer. "I'm still here, still keeping tabs on all of you. I hope you don't think your little police escorts will keep me away. I watched you buying the green paint. Was it for the baby's room? That's silly of you, isn't it? Decorating a room for a child that belongs to me. Don't forget our deal, Emily. I haven't."

Emily sat down beside Fran and transferred Kacey to her lap. She kissed the girl on the top of her head and held her close. "Kacey, what did you see?"

"The bad man, Paul."

Derek knelt down in front of Kacey. Ginger was also beside the girl, not letting Kacey out of her sight. He ran one hand over Ginger's black and gold coat in an appreciative gesture. His other hand stroked the back of Kacey's head in a reassuring manner. "Are you sure about what you saw, Kace?"

She nodded. "Ginger was barking. I turned on the light so she wouldn't be scared, and I seened him."

"You _saw_ him," Emily corrected as she tried to sooth the girl with kisses and her warm embrace. She wanted more than anything to get her hands around Morris's neck. Of course, those were just the nice thoughts Emily was having about the man.

"It was him, mommy," Kacey whispered against her mother's shoulder. "I know it was."

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 14

By N. J. Borba

* * *

It was completely dark when Emily opened her eyes, forced awake by the same dream that had been haunting her since Christmas Eve. In the land of sleep, Morris kept walking away with a squalling infant that looked a lot like Derek. The dream didn't stray too far from the realm of possibility since Morris had been leaving notes for her the last five months. After the Christmas Eve break-in attempt, the notes had all come in the mail. Always typed, there was never a return address and the post marks originated from cities in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. He was taunting them by moving around.

Emily turned onto her left side in an attempt to get comfortable again, but the baby had woken with her and decided that two o'clock in the morning was a good time for some aerobics. And Emily grew hungrier every second sleep slipped further from her grasp. She flipped onto her back again and her arms slapped against the mattress while an annoyed sigh escaped her lips.

"What's wrong?" Derek's groggy voice floated across the darkness to her. A second later he flipped on the bedside lamp, wondering if the big moment was upon them.

"Nothing," she whispered, feeling bad she'd woken him. "Go back to sleep."

Morgan didn't buy it. He snuggled up beside her. They weren't using any covers since there'd been record breaking temperatures the last two weeks, and it wasn't even summer yet. His left hand caressed her belly button that seemed to him like it might pop at any second "I can't sleep knowing you're uncomfortable," he said.

She wanted to flash him a reassuring smile, but tears were threatening to fall. Just one of the many joys of being pregnant often meant that happiness and sadness came out all at the same time. "I'm fine, really," she attempted to use words instead. "You just got back from a long case, you should rest. I'll get up and leave you alone."

His reply came in the form of holding on to her tighter. "Don't even try that crap with me," he said. "I know you're not fine." Derek moved his hand down one side of her bulging belly and was rewarded with a swift kick. "Ah ha, I believe I've found the culprit."

Emily was glad when her smile finally won out over the tears. She knew it was only because Derek made it hard for her to be sad for long. But that didn't change the fact that she was still rather uncomfortable. "Months ago, when we first felt the baby kick, it was amazing. I'd forgotten how magical it was to grow a tiny life inside me, but fast forward to my due date today and…"

"It's after midnight, Em," Derek pointed out. "Technically it's June 4th and you're overdue." He immediately noticed the glare on her face and grimaced. "Sorry."

"Needless to say, the novelty of feeling junior kick has worn off considerably," Emily continued. "I really just want this little one out of me… now."

He nodded in sympathy to her plight, although he couldn't really understand what she was going through. "But that's not all," Morgan observed.

She sighed, realizing how silly it was to think she could hide anything from him. "I had the dream again. It woke me up just now," she finally admitted. "And it's always the same; me watching him walk away with our baby and not being able to do anything about it. As much as I want this baby out, I also don't want to give birth yet, because as long as he or she is inside me I can protect it."

Derek smiled and rubbed the spot on her tummy where the baby was still dancing. "Hey, peanut, I think mommy is sleep deprived and not thinking clearly. She's gonna be a great mommy to you, and I'm going to try and be a good daddy. And neither one of us are going to let that bad man take you away. You have your daddy's word on that, so you come on out any time you're ready. Okay?" He felt another strong kick in response to his words. "I'm not sure if that was a yes or no," he chuckled.

Emily smiled again, but the tears finally slipped down her cheeks as well. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You're never going to find out," he promised. "But it's not just the baby, Em. You've been putting everything on hold worrying about this Morris thing. You haven't gone out in the field since you've been back at work, and every time I ask you about wedding plans you manage to give me the run-around. We've had that marriage license for weeks now, and still nothing. You're putting your whole life on hold, which means you're letting him win."

"Living without you I couldn't handle," she reiterated. "Living without your keen observations… I could probably swing that."

He wasn't put off by her comment. "I just want us to move on with our lives," Derek whispered, leaning in so he could kiss her gently on the lips. He rested his forehead against hers. "So, what do you want?"

"I do want to marry you, and we…"

"No, Em," Derek stopped her. "I've moved on from that subject for now. I know you want to get married, and I'll wait forever if I have to. But right now I'm asking about food. I know you're hungry every second you're awake and you've been awake for nearly ten minutes now. So, what do you want?"

She chuckled softly, touched by how observant he always was. "I don't know, Oreo's I guess." During the day she ate rather healthy, and aside from peanut butter, fruit seemed to be her biggest craving. She ate fruit of every shape and color, bananas, apples, peaches, pears, pineapple… fresh or canned, all in great quantities. But in the middle of the night she always seemed to want junk food.

"You guess?" he shook his head, sitting up a little. "Come on, tell me."

"No, because we don't have it and I know you'll want to go out and get it for me and I don't want you to do that," she said. "You've been too good to me."

"Too good?" Derek questioned how that was possible. "You know I'm just trying to butter you up so I don't get assigned diaper duty when this little one arrives." He watched her smile deepen and knew he'd put her on a better track. If he could distract her from her worries even for a few minutes he felt a sense of accomplishment. "Now, tell me what you want and I'll go get it."

"Rice crispy treats."

"Really?" Morgan was surprised. "That's a new one."

Emily nodded. "Maybe it's the overdue craving," she shrugged. "But you really don't need to make a special trip. I'll eat some Oreo's or carrots and peanut butter. I'm sure I can curb this somehow."

He jumped out of bed before she could say another word. "Too late, I'm up now." Derek pulled on a t-shirt and shorts then leaned in to kiss her on the lips. "I'll be right back," he picked up the remote on the side table and handed it to her. "Watch to make sure I get off okay, because I know you always do."

Derek was halfway out the door when she called after him. "Only because I like seeing your backside," she told him, watching as he waved.

She sat up, propped by a mountain of pillows. With remote aimed at the flat-panel TV across the room, Emily turned it to the monitoring channel. The day after Christmas, her mother had sent a security crew to install a system that rivaled that of the Pentagon. There were motion sensors on all windows and doors, motion lights all around the exterior and cameras mounted on the front and back doors, as well as the garage door, and in Kacey's room and the nursery. She watched Derek's SUV exit the garage. The automatic door closed without anyone slipping in and Emily then flicked through the other camera views. When she got to Kacey's room the girl's bed was empty. Her heart raced. Emily knew that even with an alarm system Kacey had been taken from Lucas's house.

The bedroom door swung open and Kacey and Ginger walked in. "Mommy, I heard noises," she padded toward the bed. "Where's Derek?"

It took a few seconds for Emily's heart to stop pounding. "He went to the store, baby. You wanna stay with me until he gets back?" she patted the bed beside her.

The girl nodded and climbed up. "Ginger, too?" she asked.

"Sure, Ginger too," Emily agreed, happy to have the company. The big dog settled on the bed between them. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

Kacey nodded. "101 Dalmatians."

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "Again?" she asked. "Haven't we watched that a dozen times this week?"

"It's Ginger's favorite," Kacey replied.

Laughter bubbled from Emily's throat. It was hard to argue with a dog's choice in movies. "I think it's downstairs, baby. Maybe we can find some cartoons instead."

"I'll get it!" the girl bounced out of bed and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Emily exclaimed, nervous about letting the child out of her sight in the dark house. But Kacey seemed determined and she'd learned from past experience that once the child got an idea in her head it was hard to dissuade her. "Take Ginger with you, and turn on all the lights along the way."

"Okay, mommy," Kacey agreed, not seeming afraid at all. Five months of normalcy had lulled the child into believing everything was alright. She called for the dog and Ginger was at her side in an instant. "I'll be right back."

xxx

Derek idled at the curb until the garage door closed completely. He knew Emily would be watching, too, but they were both being hyper vigilant after what had happened Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Kacey hadn't let the Christmas Eve scare diminish her Christmas morning experience. And Hotch had stepped up the security watching them since then. In fact, Derek knew there was a police unit circling the block right now. They went in shifts every night, which made him feel safer as he pulled away from the curb and headed to the all-night grocery a few blocks away.

At the first intersection Derek spotted a car parked under a tree across the road, lights on but not moving. He carefully looked both ways, crossed and slowly cruised past the car. A sigh of relief washed over him when he spotted two teenagers making out in the front seat. He continued on, vowing that Kacey would never be caught doing that with any boy. Not on his watch. Another vehicle turned onto the street and followed behind him. The driver got right on his back bumper. Derek slowed down a little and the car finally swooped out into the oncoming lane and jetted past him.

He arrived at the store a few minutes later and scanned the parking lot. There were three cars, not including the ones he knew to belong to store employees. Derek entered, grabbed a hand basket and made his way to the snack aisle. It was a section of the store he'd become real familiar with the last few months, especially in the wee hours of the morning. Derek scanned the area for a moment and saw someone walk past the end of the aisle. He looked up, but no one was there. Finally he spotted the rice crispy treats and decided on three boxes to be safe.

Another figure passed the end of the aisle and he looked up again. Not seeing anyone, he pulled the cell phone out of his short's pocket and made sure it was turned on in case Emily needed to reach him. Then he grabbed a few packages of Oreo's, just to be on the safe side. He was almost to the checkout counter when he thought of something else and turned back. Derek walked down the aisle with his eyes aimed on the object of his intent. He didn't see the person in front of him until he'd crashed into the man. His basket went down and Derek instinctively reached for a weapon at his side that wasn't there.

When he looked up, Morgan spotted a silver-haired gentleman standing behind a cart. "I'm sorry, sir," Derek apologize.

"No worries," the old man said. "I like to shop late at night when no one's around. I wasn't expecting anyone around that corner, probably it was my fault."

Derek watched him amble down the aisle and he shook his head. "You're jumpy, Morgan," he chided himself, picking up his basket. Every second that drew closer to the birth of the baby brought him further from vigilant, and into paranoid territory. He'd accused Emily of it, but the truth was they were all walking on eggshells waiting for something bad to happen, rather than being able to truly enjoy the upcoming expansion of their family.

He grabbed the last item and went to check out. The graveyard-shift clerk greeted him by name. "Hey, Derek, still no baby?" the young woman asked. She was mid-twenties with blonde dreadlocks and a hippy mentality. "Didn't see you for a few nights, thought maybe it had happened. But the peanut butter," she held the jar to her scanner. "That's a dead giveaway Emily's still craving."

"Very true," he smiled. "It should be soon, we hope. The doctor estimated the baby at about seven and a half pounds at Emily's visit this week. Said she'll induce if it goes a week overdue, but Emily really doesn't want that."

"That'd be a bummer," the young woman replied. "Rice crispy treats. That's a new one," she noticed.

"Yep," Derek nodded.

The small talk continued until his purchase was bagged and paid for. He bid the woman goodbye, and managed to drive all the way home without incident and without worrying too much. He parked in the garage and made his way upstairs with plastic bag in hand. Normally they used environmentally friendly cloth ones, but he always forgot them late at night. Derek crept toward Kacey's room first, intending to check on her. He pushed the door open and his stomach churned with fear when he noticed she wasn't there. He sped toward his room, shoved the door open and found Emily, Kacey and Ginger all huddled together. His heart resumed normal beating.

"What is this, a slumber party?" he asked, finding a corner of the bed to sit down on. Derek saw what was playing on the TV and groaned. He reached into the bag, grabbed one box of treats and handled them to Emily. "101 Dalmatians, again?"

Emily shrugged, ripping into the box. She pulled out three packages and handed one to Kacey and Derek. "Some days it's best not to fight these things."

"Yes, but shouldn't a certain someone under the age of seven be in bed?" Derek knew they would need to toughen up their parenting once the baby arrived, or else they'd all be off schedule.

"It's Friday night… well, Saturday morning. It's not a school night," Emily defended.

Morgan tore open his package in defeat and took a bite. "When this baby is born, we're all going on diets." He immediately caught Emily's glare. "I meant Kacey and me," he corrected. "Because you're not…" he waved a hand at her stomach, but decided to leave it alone. Derek took another bite of his treat, settled onto the bed and snatched the baby name book off his nightstand. His eyes caught on the name Damien, and he couldn't help remember the young kid he'd been accused of killing. He traveled further down the page. "How about Daniel or Dante? Dante means: lasting, enduring," he read. "Or Dylan?"

"Can we get out of the D section," Emily wrinkled her nose. "Derek and Dante… that could get confusing."

"Some families have names all starting with the same letter," Morgan replied.

"Those people are lame," Emily grabbed a second treat.

He glanced at her. "Take it easy there, pregnant hormonal lady."

She shrugged. "Sorry, I'd just prefer not to go that route."

"Okay, how about Edward?" Derek jumped to the E section. "Little Eddie… nah, conjures up images of Eddie Haskell from _Leave it to Beaver_."

"Who's Eddie hack sell?" Kacey asked.

Derek looked to Emily again. "I just really dated myself, didn't I?"

Emily smiled as she nodded. "How about some girl names?"

"No girl names, the baby is a boy," Kacey spoke up again, listening to their banter even as she watched the movie. "We should name him Zebra, 'cause I didn't get to name Ginger that. Unless I can have a kitty. Then I'd name her Zebra."

Morgan saw Emily shaking her head emphatically. "At least she didn't suggest the name, Blue," he said. Then to Kacey he added, "And we're not getting a cat."

"Blue's a good boy name," Kacey didn't miss a beat.

One hand stroked her daughter's cheek before Emily went for rice crispy treat number three. "Kace, we need to pick girl names, too. I know you think the baby will be a boy, but it might be a girl," she pointed out.

"No, it's not," Kacey responded.

"But it could be," Emily persisted.

"No!" Kacey shouted louder than she usually dared to speak to them. Ginger lifted her head, worried about the girl's tone, thinking she might be in trouble. "The baby is a boy. It _has_ to be a boy."

As Emily listened to her daughter's words and tone of voice, warning bells were going off in her head. She and Derek had so far let the baby thing slide, just happy that Kacey seemed more excited about having a sibling than she was at the start. They hadn't really had reason to be worried about her insistence that the baby was a boy until just now. They'd simply thought it was cute. "Kacey, why do you want the baby to be a boy?"

The girl stood up on the bed, causing Ginger to get up too. The dog jumped down, ready to follow Kacey to the ends of the earth. "I just do!" the child shouted, trying to find the quickest way off the bed.

Morgan caught her just before she jumped. "Not so fast there, munchkin," he wrapped his arms around her small waist and sat her down on his lap. Kacey was still struggling to get away, but he held her as firmly and lovingly as possible. "You need to talk to us, kiddo. Why do you want the baby to be a boy?" he re-asked the question Emily had just posed.

"Because," Kacey sulked, looking at the hardwood floor.

Derek lifted her chin so she was facing him. "That's not an acceptable answer, baby girl. Please tell us what's going on so we can fix this, okay?"

Kacey's bottom lip quivered as she looked him in the eye. "If mommy has a girl then she'll be your real daughter and you'll love her more than me. But if it's a boy then I can still be your daughter."

Her words hit him in the gut and Derek had to bite down on his emotions for a moment before speaking. "You know what, Kace? Before you came into my life I didn't think I wanted to be anyone's daddy. I was afraid I wouldn't be any good at it, but you changed all of that for me in just one night. I don't need the same DNA to be your daddy, Kacey. You _are_ my daughter. You were the first child I loved as my own, and that will never change."

"Not even if mommy has another girl?" she asked.

"Not even then," he vowed. "I love you, Kacey."

"Always?"

"Always," Derek promised.

The little girl seemed satisfied with that news, but there was one other thing plaguing her. "My friend at school, Marty, says that when you marry mommy she'll be a Morgan, and so will the baby," Kacey paused. "I don't want daddy to be mad at me, but I wanna be a Morgan, too."

Derek felt a swell of pride, even though he knew the name wouldn't make a difference in how much he loved her. But he sensed that it was something that made a big difference to her. He looked over and caught Emily's eye. She gave a simple nod of her head and he returned his attention to Kacey. "We've never talked about adoption before, because I didn't want to push that on you, but it would make you my legal daughter. And I'd be honored to have you wear the Morgan name, if you really want to. I don't think any of that would make your daddy mad. I think he'd be happy that you're happy."

Kacey's blue eyes sparked, but still held a hint of curiosity. "Does adopt mean I can call you daddy?"

"You can call me daddy right now if you want," Derek let her know.

She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed as tightly as she could. "I love you, daddy."

Even after filling the role of her father for so many months, there was nothing quite like being called daddy for the first time. Their hug lasted several more seconds until Kacey slipped back onto his lap. Ginger jumped onto the bed again, sensing everything was okay. Derek glanced across the bed at Emily. "Uh oh, Kacey… we made mommy cry," he reached out to swipe Emily's tears away.

"Mommy cries at Scooby-Doo," Kacey replied.

"She's right," Emily sniffed. "We were watching an old episode the other day and after the team solved the case, Velma and Shaggy had this really heartwarming moment and they…" she got choked up again. "Well, Shaggy reminds me a little of Reid, only dumber. And the Scooby snacks made me hungry," Emily concluded.

Morgan laughed heartily as he kissed her on the cheek. "You're one of a kind, Em."

"You're supposed to say: thank goodness for that," she managed to chuckle through her tears.

"Thank goodness for that," he repeated. "Because I get you all to myself."

Kacey leaned over and whispered to Emily's stomach. "Hi, baby peanut," she used the term of affection that Derek had coined early on in Emily's pregnancy. "I'm sorry I only wanted you to be a boy. You can be whatever you want. And maybe you can ask for a kitty when your borned, so we can have a doggy and a kitty."

Derek and Emily both had another good laugh at that, the tears finally abated. He grabbed the baby name book again and flipped it open to the girl section. Names started to fly out his mouth, left and right. "Abigail, Ashley, Bethany, Bridget, Caroline, Gabrielle, Hannah, Irene, Julia…" But Emily shot them all down, almost as quickly as he spit them out. "Woman, how did you ever settle on the name Kacey?" he sighed, dropping the book to his lap.

Emily picked it up, shuffled to the K section and pointed out the third name. "Kacey, Irish origin, meaning: brave."

xxx

It was two-thirty on Tuesday afternoon and still no baby. Emily's appointment that morning had revealed her to be several centimeters dilated, but the doctor told her a lot of women walked around partially dilated. Emily failed to call Derek with a report of the visit, because she knew he'd insist she check in at the hospital. Instead, she was waiting for Kacey to get out of school. Then she had plans to do laps around the air-conditioned mall and possibly eat something very spicy. The more she moved, the faster she figured junior would make its arrival. In fact, she was tempted to leave Kacey with Reid for a while and find Derek so they could have some alone time, because she'd read somewhere that sex could help jump-start a birth.

Emily managed to get out of the car, no small feat given the roundness of her belly, which made driving a challenge. Derek hated that she was still driving, but he'd lost that battle. Ginger moved from the back seat to the front, tail wagging. She'd easily become one of the family in short order. "Calm down, girl, Kacey will be out in a few minutes," Emily assured the dog with a loving stroke before grabbing her bag and closing the door.

On her way to the entrance, Emily gave a quick wave to the patrol car across the street. Someone was always on guard when Kacey arrived and left school. And they often circled the block at intervals throughout the day. She rested her aching backside against a low brick wall outside the school as the first wave of kids exited. Mostly the older kids came out first, happy to be free. The younger ones were more prone to doddle. Emily waited for Kacey and her teacher, just like every day. She'd asked Hotch for desk work in order to facilitate the school schedule, at least until Morris was caught and Kacey could start taking a bus.

When Kacey still hadn't shown nearly fifteen minutes after the end of school, Emily's worries had her up the front stairs and working her way toward the first-grade classroom. She found her daughter inside, organizing books in the reading corner. "Kacey!" she called out.

The child looked up and instantly realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, mommy. I stayed to help Miss Denning clean up." She pointed to the teacher.

Miss Denning greeted Emily. "I was called in at lunch time, because Mrs. Harrison was ill. Kacey agreed to help me clean up."

"Well, Kacey is supposed to be escorted to me at the end of the day by her teacher," Emily tried to keep her voice from being too snappy.

The woman nervously swallowed. "I'm really sorry, ma'am. The office didn't tell me about that."

Emily sighed, relaxing a little. "It's okay. Kacey's fine. But we should go now," she looked to her daughter.

Kacey rushed to gather her bag and then hugged her substitute teacher. She took Emily's hand and they exited the classroom. "I'm sorry, mommy. I wanted to help."

"I know, baby," Emily smiled to realize how thoughtful her daughter was. But she had a feeling her worry had helped spurn her labor along, because the uncomfortable back ache had quickly turned into sharper pains. Definite contractions had started, causing her to re-think the brilliance of her plan not to check into the hospital. They turned down the hall, and Emily rummaged through her bag for her cell phone. She knew she couldn't put off calling Derek any longer.

With her attention diverted, Emily didn't notice the man's presence until a gun was pressed against her spine. "Keep walking," he told her. "And don't even think about screaming, or Kacey will have a terrible accident."

Emily knew the voice without seeing him. Morris was always calm and in control. He also had a tight hold on Kacey's right arm. "How did you get in here?" she asked.

"Lots of kids, parents and teachers mulling around makes for good cover. And your police escort decided to take a bullet induced nap," Morris answered as he directed them through the passage that led to the adjoining church. The three of them emerged into the south transept of the old chapel.

Morris snatched Emily's bag and directed her toward the front row pew. "Sit," he demanded, tossing her bag across the church and out of reach. When she didn't follow orders, he picked Kacey up, holding her against his chest with her feet off the ground. The gun in his right hand went to her side. "Why don't you help me convince your mommy to sit, Kacey." He dug the weapon deeper into her side.

"Okay, I'll sit," Emily agreed, managing to lower her girth onto the pew.

"Can I help the three of you?"

Morris turned toward the sound of a male voice. "Who are you?"

A middle-aged man stood beside the Alter. He was dressed in khakis and his collar. "I'm Father Terrance. Who are you?"

"Get out of here," Morris said.

"I'm afraid I can't leave," Father Terrance replied, head shaking. "You intend to hurt these people and I won't allow that."

Emily had only met the priest on one occasion at a school function, but he seemed different than most. Younger, casual, and not as strict as the priests she recalled from her youth. Still, she'd shied away from conversing with him too long. Kacey loved the school and Emily was glad of the fact, but she was fairly certain her own faith would never be resolved. There were too many shadows in her past, too much baggage. On the other hand, it was her job to protect innocent people. But, as she stood in an attempt to ward Father Terrance away from the conflict, a warm rush of liquid flowed between her legs.

"Shit," Emily whispered. She knew that her water breaking gave her an even smaller time table. Kacey had been born within an hour of her water breaking. She needed to make some decisions, fast. Kacey was still struggling against Morris when Emily suddenly flashed on a memory. "Kacey," she caught the girl's attention. "Do you remember what I taught you about floating?"

Almost instantly, Kacey let her body go completely limp. Morris wasn't prepared for the dead weight and stumbled backwards a few feet. The girl felt his arms slacken and she kicked him in the groin. His gun hand lowered as he doubled over and groaned in pain. Kacey slipped away, dashing toward the far end of the pew. Morris recovered a little, spun around and shot in her direction. But a figure jumped in front of Morris's bullet. It grazed Father Terrance's left arm.

The commotion created just enough distraction for Kacey to hide behind the pew.

* * *

**To Be Continued…**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the TV series, _Criminal Minds_.

* * *

**Bravery  
**Part 15

By N. J. Borba

* * *

Kacey sat, knees to chest, and back pressed against the solid wood pew as she tried to stay hidden from the bad man. Her breathing was labored, scared of what might happen next. She wanted to help her mommy, but she knew she couldn't do it alone. When she spotted her mother's purse a few feet to her left an idea formed. The little girl crawled toward the bag, being as silent as possible. She grabbed the bag and rolled underneath another pew. Her heart beat faster as she searched through the bag for the phone her mommy always had with her. She found it and flipped it open. Several months ago she'd been taught how to properly use the phone in case of an emergency. Kacey quickly hit the speed dial buttons that would connect her straight to her daddy's phone.

She waited anxiously as the line began to ring.

xxx

The meeting droned on at length about a man they'd been investigating for several months on a string of suspected arsons in the downtown DC area. Unfortunately, all of their information so far was circumstantial. Derek had to give his new team credit, though, they were persistent. In the cases they'd solved since the group's forming he'd grown more and more confident in their abilities. At the moment, though, his mind was not focused very well on work. He kept glancing at his watch every other minute to check the time. Emily hadn't called yet and it had been nearly an hour since Kacey's release from school. To say he was worried didn't quite cover it.

"I suggest we set up surveillance at his home," special agent Samantha Bard suggested. She was mid-thirties with emerald eyes, long brown hair, tall but not super thin, and very smart. Not genius level like Reid, but close. Her ten years on the Los Angeles bomb squad made her a definite asset to the new team. However, her knowledge of FBI regulations, and the tenacity to recite them to Derek ad nauseum, had yet to endear her to the team leader.

Morgan nodded. "I'll take that under advisement," he replied. "But we know our UnSub is a loose-cannon. So far there's been no loss of life, but if he suspects we're on to him it could set him on a rampage." Derek looked to his watch again. "Let's regroup a little later, okay," he announced, rising from his seat and making quick tracks for the conference room door.

He pulled his cell phone free and dialed Emily. It rang a few times and then went to her voicemail. "Hey, it's me. You didn't call after picking up Kacey, and you know I worry. So, call me back, please. I love you," Derek hoped his voice hadn't sounded too accusatory. He knew Emily was ultra sensitive lately, with the baby so close to delivery and her hormones jumpier than usual. But he was still concerned and decided to set off for his former stomping grounds on the third floor.

Derek walked through the BAU's third floor bullpen and marveled again at how much it resembled the one on the second floor where he and his new team where stationed. Even Hotch's office was pretty much identical to his new one. The architectural design of the building was obviously based on repetition of form. He knocked at Hotch's door, which was partially open. "Hey, Hotch," he said, pushing the door in further and stepping inside.

"Getting tired of the new team already, Morgan?" Hotch asked with a rare grin as he remained hunched over some files.

"Not yet," Derek forced a smile. It fell away when he posed his question. "Have you heard from Emily today?"

Hotch abandoned the papers he was going over and looked up, giving Derek his full attention. "She went on maternity leave over a week ago."

"Yeah, I know," Morgan nodded, the hint of a smile creeping across his lips again. "That was the official order and date given by the bureau, but you and I both know she's still been in touch. And probably will be until junior finally arrives."

"True," Hotch agreed. "I know she was in very briefly yesterday, but not today. What's up?"

"Maybe nothing," Derek shrugged, hoping his paranoia was getting the better of him again. "It's just that Kacey's been out of school for more than an hour now and Emily hasn't contacted me yet. She always calls to let me know Kacey's safe,"

The team leader was instantly alarmed by the news, knowing the routine that had been firmly set by his friends. He didn't get a chance to respond when JJ and Rossi entered his office. Both of them wore looks of concern on their faces. "I just got a call from the Alexandria police department," JJ announced. "They say the officer dispatched to St. Mary's school today hasn't reported in yet. And they can't reach him. They've sent another unit out to look into it, but they called us right away."

Derek's cell phone rang a second later, and they all grew silent as he flipped it on speaker. "Emily?" he asked, having seen her name on screen.

"_Daddy,_" Kacey's normally sweet voice was a frightened whisper. "_Daddy you have to come quick, the bad man has mommy…_" the line went deadly silent for a moment and then Kacey's screams could be heard. "_Help, daddy! Please! Help!_"

"Kacey!" Morgan shouted, his whole body gone rigid with worry. "Kacey, where are you?"

There was silence again for a moment until another voice came on. "_There's no roadblock to stop me this time, agent Morgan,_" Morris announced. "_And Emily is about to give me exactly what I came for._"

The line went completely dead after that. "Son of a…" Derek growled, dialing Emily's number again. "How did he find them? How did he even get close?" Morgan laid blame on his shoulders for not being there a second time when they needed him most. He closed his phone when the call went straight to voicemail.

Hotch was already out of his seat and giving orders. "JJ, tell Garcia to run a trace on Emily's phone." The woman dashed out of his office figuring she could run faster than calling the tech interoffice. Derek, Rossi and Hotch followed her into the bullpen, picking up Reid along the way. The four men hustled out of the office and took the stairs rather than wait for the elevator. When they reached the SUV in the parking garage, Hotch insisted on driving. "Where to?" he asked Derek.

"The school," Morgan answered without hesitation. "Unless we hear different from Garcia."

They were on their way in seconds, Hotch speeding down the highway with lights and sirens blaring. Garcia contacted them about ten minutes into their drive. "_Emily's phone isn't transmitting, so I'd say it's been turned off or destroyed since Kacey's call,"_ she reported. _"But I located her vehicle; it's still at the school. JJ and I haven't been able to reach anyone at the school yet, but we'll keep trying._"

Derek rode the rest of the way with his nails digging into the door handle, hoping Morris wasn't already long gone with the three most important people in his life.

At the school, Hotch pulled in alongside the curb behind Emily's vehicle and Morgan was the first one out of the SUV. He could hear Ginger inside Emily's car, barking furiously. Derek used his extra key to open the door and Ginger bounded out of the vehicle. He managed to catch the dog's leash before she could get away, and he crouched down beside the animal stroking her shiny coat.

Morgan looked up at Hotch. "If Kacey and Emily are still here, Ginger will find them." He watched as Hotch nodded, and noticed the dog had her snout pointed toward the school's main entrance. "Okay, girl" Derek unhooked the leash and stood. "Let's go," he followed the dog's lead as Ginger took off.

xxx

She heard her daughter's screams from across the nave of the church and carefully got to her feet. Even in the throes of labor, Emily was determined to keep her daughter safe from harm. But a gentle hand against her arm stopped her from going toward Morris. "He already has her," Father Terrence informed Emily, able to see more from his vantage point. "He's bringing her over, there's really nothing you can do right now."

Emily hated feeling useless, but she panted through the pain of a contraction using the breathing techniques she and Derek had learned at their natural childbirth classes. When she'd suggested them, she thought for sure Derek would balk at the idea, but he hadn't missed a single session. He'd taken on his fatherly role with only love in his heart, although he was still leery on the diaper changing. She sat down on the pew again, with Father Terrence's help. Emily was grateful of the flowy sundress she'd decided to don that morning. Normally she was used to wearing form fitting, tailored clothing, but she'd given up on all of that the last few months. The dress was cool and comfortable, and it seemed she was likely to give birth in it at any moment, because the baby was suddenly in a big hurry to be born.

"Your arm is bleeding," she noticed, removed from her pain for a moment.

"It's nothing really, just a scratch," Father Terrence told her. "I believe the bullet imbedded itself into one of the Stations of the Cross panels," he flashed a reassuring smile. "How are you?" he inquired.

She caressed her bulging belly. "Well, this isn't exactly how I planned things," Emily finally replied. "There should be a hospital and an epidural," a stronger wave of pain hit and Emily slowly breathed through it, wondering what Morris had planned for them. But talking through her worry seemed to help, a little. "And Derek is supposed to be here. He and I, we… we should be married, but I kept putting it off." She looked Father Terrence in the eye, feeling like a frightened teenager again. "Is it a sin to have a baby in a church when you're not married?"

His head shook and he took her hand. "Not as far as I'm concerned. All life is welcome at church, be it old or brand new," he told her.

"You're not like most of the priests I've ever known," Emily said between pants. "Where were you twenty-five years ago?"

"In high school," he answered with another smile. "Emily, I know who you and Derek Morgan are. The congregation here followed your story before Kacey was ever a student. We pray for the three of you at every Sunday service."

Her brows raised, not quite sure she'd heard him correctly. "You do? But, I… we don't attend."

"That's not a requirement," he replied. His eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "The church hurt you, didn't it?"

She hadn't been prepared for his insight. It both scared and comforted her. "I did something once that the church couldn't sanction…" Emily was actually happy when another contraction hit, not really wanting to bare her soul under the circumstances, even though she felt more at ease with Father Terrance than any other religious leader she'd known. At the moment, though, she could only focus on the fact that her contractions were coming way too fast. "Shit," she squeezed his hand tightly. "I forgot how much this hurts. I guess that's the point, right?" Emily tried to chuckle, but it caught in her throat. "So you'll do it more than once." She suddenly realized her earlier mistake. "Oh, crap… I just swore in church. In front of a priest."

"I believe that under the circumstances, God will forgive you," Father Terrence let her know. "I forgive you," he added.

Morris could be heard nearby speaking to Kacey in a warning tone. Emily drew the priest closer via their clasped hands. "Please don't let him hurt her, Father. Please, whatever happens here… protect my children."

Father Terrence was barely able to nod his promise when Morris grabbed him by the arm and roughly drew him away from Emily's side. "I need us to be secure in here, all of the openings should be locked," Morris instructed, pushing the priest toward the nearest door.

Kacey ran to her mother and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist, at least as far as they would go. The child buried her face against her mother's arm, and Emily could hear her daughter's soft sobs. "Shh, baby, you're gonna be fine," she soothed, even as the pain in her abdomen snaked around her back in a fiery circle. "We're all going to be okay," Emily promised.

Seeing that Morris was distracted by watching the priest lock doors, Kacey got on her knees and whispered in her mother's ear with a cupped hand. "I called daddy. He'll come," she spoke reassuringly to her mother. "I know he will."

"You're right, he will," Emily agreed. She hissed at the continued pain and rubbed her belly again.

"What's wrong, mommy?" Kacey asked.

"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. This baby just really wants to come out and meet its big sister," Emily said, kissing Kacey's forehead.

A few minutes later, Father Terrence was back at Emily's side. And Morris stood in front of her, stern countenance in place. "We still have a deal, right?" he looked to Emily. "I'll leave Kacey to you once this baby is born, one child in exchange for the other."

"No deal," Emily snarled at the man. "You won't touch this baby."

"You tried to say the same about Kacey before, but that vow was broken," Morris's silky voice relayed in a nonchalant manner.

Emily did her best not to let him get to her. Maybe she'd been his victim for two weeks, but no more, and never again. "I always call Derek after I pick Kacey up. He knows by now that something is wrong. Half the FBI is probably already surrounding this building. You're not getting away," she told him.

"Oh, I think I will," Morris was still confident. "I seriously doubt anyone will shoot at me while I'm walking to my vehicle with your baby in my arms." He noticed the grimace of pain that passed over her. "And very soon that baby _will_ be in my arms. I really couldn't have timed this any better."

Reason wasn't working with him. He'd gained a superiority complex along his reign. If she had any hope of fighting him, Emily knew it would have to be on a more personal level. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. "Is this what Doris would want?" Emily intentionally brought up the name of the woman he'd loved, the woman he'd helped kidnap Kacey for. "Do you think she'd honestly want another mother to go through the pain of losing their child? Do _you_ want that?" she questioned. "You know what it's like; you've lost two children already. Do you want Derek and I to live every day worried sick about our baby's welfare?"

"You'll have Kacey," he replied, but his voice seemed to have lost a small bit of confidence.

"Like you had Katie to replace the baby you lost," Emily persisted. "Was it the same?" she asked. "Did Katie make up for that other loss?" There was silence between them for a beat. "The answer is no, isn't it?" she continued, breathing through another contraction. "One child can never replace another. And this baby of mine isn't going to quell the pain of your other losses. You'll always be looking over your shoulder, wondering when this baby will be lost to you, too. You'll never be at peace if you do this, Paul," she used his first name as a means to reach him.

Her words had formed a small crack in his unwavering veneer. "But I can't go back to how it was before; that lonely life," Morris told her. "I spent so many years wishing things had been different with Courtney, and then wishing I could finally be with Doris and Katie. I locked myself up after Courtney died. I swore I'd never let myself get that emotionally involved again, but Doris changed everything. I loved her, I really loved her," he shook his head dismally. "We were going to raise this child together. This baby is my only reason for living right now. Without it, I have nothing."

His words hit a cord with Emily, because she'd done the same thing after losing Kacey, locking herself up. And Derek had turned her around from it, made her feel loved again. She wanted to strangle Morris with her bare hands for the hell he'd put her and Kacey through, and yet, she also understood some of his pain. "You can find something else to live for. Maybe you'll even find love again," Emily ventured, desperate to say anything he could latch on to other than her baby. "But it won't be my children that you force your love upon. I'll have to be dead before I let you walk away with either of them."

Morris switched to lock-down mode again; to a place beyond rational thought. "That can be arranged," he leveled his gun on her.

xxx

Afternoon sun beat down on Derek as he jogged the perimeter of the red-brick church with Ginger. The dog had sniffed out their trail and indicated that Emily and Kacey were definitely in the church. But there were no open entry points; no way that he could see to breach the building without making their presence known. "If we can, I'd rather not startle Morris," he told Hotch when they rejoined the group.

"All the windows on the ground level are stained glass and don't open," Rossi reported. "There are vents, but nothing we can get a good enough visual through."

"There's a microphone and speaker system inside the chapel," Reid added. "But we have no way to access it from the outside."

"So, we have no eyes or ears on the inside," Hotch wasn't pleased with any of the news that had just been relayed to him. "Morgan is right. I'd rather not start busting out windows or breaking down doors without knowing what's going on in there."

A few moments later, JJ and Garcia bailed out of an SUV and hurried toward the team with a man in tow. He was mid-forties, balding on top and bulging a little at his center of gravity. "This is principal Stevens," JJ promptly announced. "He was at a regional conference today, but Garcia tracked him down."

"I'm sorry about being unreachable, but it was mandatory for our cell phones to be off," the principal explained.

Hotch nodded his understanding. "We need to know if there are any church access points other than the ground-floor doors."

"There's a choir loft at the south end with a second story window that opens."

"Could someone get through the opening?" Derek immediately asked.

"Yes, it's plenty big enough," Stevens relayed. "It was installed a few years ago during a renovation. The building department claimed we needed it in case of emergency evacuation," he explained. "And we keep a ladder in the school gymnasium. I have the storage room key with me now; I can get it for you."

"Dave, go with him," Hotch ordered them away. When they were out of range, he turned to Derek. "Do you have a plan?"

Morgan glanced down at the dog beside him. "I want to get in there with Ginger. If we can squeeze in unnoticed I can let Ginger loose through the church. She's short enough to go undetected, and she'll go straight to Kacey. She'll protect her and Emily, or at least cause enough distraction so I can move in closer."

"That's risky," Hotch noted. "Most likely Morris has a weapon. You said so yourself a few minutes ago that you didn't want to startle him. He's on edge, not thinking clearly. If he gets spooked he could start shooting, and we know Emily is expendable to him. If he can't get that baby he'll grab Kacey again. He probably knows we won't touch him if he has a hostage."

The risk was already abundantly clear to him, but Derek didn't think on it too long, knowing they were short on time. "I'd rather go in now than give him the opportunity to get away."

Hotch had a pretty good feeling that no matter what call he made, Morgan was still going in that building after his family. He'd done the same thing once. His situation hadn't worked out as well as he would have liked, but Hotch hoped this one would. "Do it," he agreed. "Stay on radio with us, and relay positions if at all possible."

Rossi, Stevens and the ladder arrived in short order and it was propped against the choir loft window. Morgan was impressed by how Ginger climbed it like a pro, following up after him. Once inside, Derek held her back as they descended the stairs that led into the nave of the chapel. His right hand rested on the gun at his hip as he and Ginger stood at the bottom of the stairs. "I've got a visual," Derek whispered into his two-way radio. "Emily and Kacey are sitting in the front pew, north end of the church. Morris is directly in front of them. And there's someone else with them, looks like a priest," he relayed.

"_Can you get to Morris without being seen?_" Hotch asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'm sending Ginger closer," Morgan decided. He bent down and unhooked her leash. "Go get Kacey," he instructed the canine.

"_Morgan,_" Hotch came over the radio again. "_We're positioned at the north-east door. Just give the word and we'll be in to back you up,_" he let the man know.

"Copy," Derek acknowledged as he watched Ginger trot down the aisle. He got down on all fours and followed the dog's lead, staying as low as he could. Morgan was half way down the aisle when he finally picked up on the conversation at the front. He heard Emily's voice first. "_…it won't be my children that you force your love upon. I'll have to be dead before I let you walk away with either of them._" He also heard Morris's chilling response. "_That can be arranged._"

Derek stopped just behind the front pew and peeked to see what was going on. The first thing he noticed was Morris with his gun aimed at Emily. Then he watched Ginger silently creep up behind Morris and chomp at his left ankle. Morris yelped and spun around to face the dog with his gun pointed at her. "Ginger, no!" Kacey shot out of her seat, worried about her beloved pet. Morris turned back toward the girl, gun raised. Derek could tell by the look in Morris's eyes that he was ready to shoot at anything or anyone that got in his way.

Morgan didn't have time to dwell on the fact that his plan hadn't gone very well, not as he watched the weapon being aimed at Kacey. That was all it took to jolt him from his hiding place. Derek ran headlong into Morris, hoping to knock the man off his feet. Morris's gun flew out of his hand on impact and bounced across the carpeted floor. The two of them went down in a tangle with Derek's weapon caught somewhere between them. Morgan still had his finger on the gun's trigger as they continued to struggle, but Morris managed to push the weapon up against Derek's ribcage.

Father Terrence, keeping true to the word he'd given Emily, rushed to Kacey's side and quickly ushered her and the dog safely away from the conflict. They were positioned behind a pew close to the north-east door when it burst open and a flood of FBI agents flowed through. But the echoing ring of a gunshot filled the air all around them before the team had a chance to defuse the situation. Derek and Morris rolled away from one another and no one could tell exactly what had happened until they spotted Emily on her hands and knees, one arm raised with Morris's weapon in her right-handed grip. Derek searched himself for bullet holes, but found none. It didn't take him long to see the pool of blood forming beneath Morris and staining the chapel's carpet. One shot, straight through the heart.

Emily stared down at Morris with a blank expression, still in shock. "I promised you wouldn't touch this baby," she informed his lifeless body. The gun in her hands was carefully removed by Reid, and another strong contraction racked her body. Derek was at her side the next second, quickly realizing that she was in labor. "I don't want him here when this baby is born," she whispered, still staring at the body.

"We'll get you to the hospital," Morgan let her know, trying to help her stand.

She almost laughed, and her legs were not so willing to work at the moment. "This baby isn't waiting for a hospital, Derek. And I don't want him here," Emily insisted in a sharper tone. Hotch heard her request and called Rossi over. Without worrying about repercussions for tampering with a crime scene, the two men lifted Morris's dead weight and carted him outside of the church where other agents were waiting. Emily then looked Morgan in the eye. "Now we just need to do one more thing before junior's arrival," she said.

"What?" Derek was curious as JJ and Garcia entered the church and rushed toward them.

"The EMT's should be here soon," JJ announced, though they all guessed it would be too late. The two women got down on the floor with Derek and Emily. Garcia sat behind Emily, providing cushion at her backside and a hand to hold. JJ didn't even bat an eye about helping her friend remove her soaked underwear.

"Father," Emily addressed the man who was standing nearby with Kacey and Ginger. "I want you to marry us," she announced.

"Now?" Father Terrence asked.

"Right now?" Derek was almost more shocked by the fact that she was asking a priest to marry them. But when he looked to check the baby's progress, a slight panic gripped him that outweighed that surprise. "Emily, the baby is nearly…"

"Which is why we have to do this now," she insisted, looking to Father Terrence again. "We have a license at home and we'll sign that later, but right now you can marry us and it will be legal in the eyes of God, right?"

Terrence nodded with a small smile. "Of course," he agreed.

Emily squeezed Garcia's hand as a sharp pain ripped across her belly. "Then do it, now… please," she hissed through the contraction.

The priest was a bit flustered, but began as Hotch and Rossi rejoined the group. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

"Uh, Father…" Morgan knew that the EMT's were still in-route so he took it upon himself to play the role of baby catcher. He was beyond nervous, having already been worried about just being Emily's coach through the delivery. And his second look beneath her dress sent a cold shiver down his spine. "I think we need to jump ahead. This baby isn't waiting for the long version."

"In that case… do you Derek, take Emily to be your…"

"I do," Morgan sped things up even more. He looked Emily in the eye and smiled. "I promise to love you, always," Derek vowed. "Through laughter and tears, good times and bad. I will always be at your side, Emily. And I'll even change as many dirty diapers as you want," he concluded.

"Do you, Emily…"

She didn't wait for the priest to finish either. "I do…" Emily grimaced, staring down at Derek. "And I promise that someday we'll renew our vows and I'll have something sappy and loving to say, but right now…" she bore down with the force of her contraction and groaned loudly through it.

"Oh, dear lord," Derek glanced down again. "Our baby has a head," he remarked, trying to steady his hands as he nervously cupped his child's head. "Come on, Emily. You're doing great. Just one more push. You can do this," he encouraged his almost-wife.

"By the power vested in me," Father Terrence quickly continued. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has witnessed and blessed this day, let no one break apart." He looked to the couple as Emily grunted through her final push. "And you may kiss… when you get a chance."

Derek watched in complete awe as the baby's shoulders finally broke free. Tears sprung to his eyes as he held the slippery newborn with both hands and held the child up for Emily to see. The baby cried along with its parents. "Our little peanut is a girl," he happily announced.

xxx

Several hours later at the hospital, Derek once again had his newborn daughter cradled protectively in his arms. She'd been weighed, measured, bathed, given a thorough check and was now sound asleep and swaddled in a pink blanket with matching cap over her head of dark hair. Derek marveled at her caramel skin that was softer than anything he'd ever felt before. Her chubby cheeks practically radiated contentment. And her little mouth puckered, lips twitching as she slept.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked him, Kacey cuddled up beside her on the hospital bed.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Derek looked over at her.

A small shrug raised her shoulders. "I know you were hoping for a boy to even things out a little," she answered.

"No, Em," he shook his head and sat down on the left side of the bed. One hand reached out to gently stroke his wife's cheek and then he leaned forward to kiss her on the lips, finally sealing their marriage vows. "I couldn't be any happier than I am right now, and I'm sorry if I ever made you think I wanted a boy." He looked at the newborn again. "She's amazing. She's perfect." His eyes then slid to Kacey. "What about you kiddo… would you still rather have a brother?"

Kacey's head moved side-to-side as she grinned. "I like her," she pointed to the baby. "Can we keep her?"

"We are definitely keeping her," Emily said.

"Can we teach her how to swim, mommy?" Kacey asked.

"Of course."

"And how to float?"

Emily smiled brightly. "Absolutely," she kissed her daughter's forehead.

Derek held on to Emily's hand, understanding the deeper meaning of his wife and daughter's exchange of words. "Are you okay?" he asked, kissing her palm.

"A little sore, and tired," she replied.

"That's not exactly what I meant," Derek said.

She nodded softly. "I know," Emily understood that he was asking about what had happened at the church, her shooting of Morris. "Today is my wedding day, and our daughter's birthday. I don't want to focus on anything else but that right now."

He easily agreed to her terms, wanting to celebrate as well. Derek knew that this recent chapter in their saga would probably mean more nightmares for Kacey. And would very likely make Emily even more over protective. But he was just grateful that all three of his girls were alive and in his sight at the moment. His eyes glanced down at the baby again. "I've always been rather partial to girls, anyhow," he chuckled. "Although, I suspect this one is going to be a handful."

"Then there's no denying who her daddy is," Garcia's voice announced her presence. She had her head peeked through a sliver of open door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Emily motioned her friend forward.

The door quickly opened much wider to reveal the rest of the team standing behind her, and they all crowded in. Rossi eyed the sleeping infant. "It's a good thing you don't look half bad as a girl, Morgan," he teased.

"Except she has more hair," JJ joined in.

Derek took the ribbing in good humor as Reid stepped forward and handed Emily a manila envelope. "I picked this up for you guys, per Derek's request. We also stopped by to see Father Terrence and he signed it," he let them know.

Emily pulled the marriage license out of the envelope. "Anyone have a pen?" she asked. "I need to make this official before the first dirty diaper."

Laughter circled the hospital room for a while after that, drowning out the sorrows that had plagued most of the last six months of their lives. Garcia fawned over Emily and the baby, presenting them with a crib-sized blanket she'd crocheted. Finally she remembered the other gift bag she'd brought along. She handed the bag to Kacey, who looked a little left out as everyone was ogling the infant. "Open it, sweetie. It's for you."

Kacey fished through several layers of tissue paper and eventually pulled out a t-shirt. It was sky-blue with an embroidered ladybug and text on the front. The little girl carefully read the words. "I'm a big sister," she grinned.

"I made that especially for you," Garcia let her know.

"Thank you," Kacey politely said, instantly pulling the shirt on over her other clothes.

"So, does she have a name yet?" Hotch asked.

Emily and Derek both shook their heads. "Just peanut, for now," Morgan said.

"Although, I'm vying for _jumbo_ peanut," Emily added to Derek's comment. "Because eight pounds, seven ounces and twenty-one inches is a heck of big peanut."

JJ winced in sympathy for her friend. "Ouch, that's nearly a pound and half more than Henry."

"And Kacey," Emily said. "I blame Derek."

"I love you, too," Morgan replied with a wink to his wife.

Further laughter reverberated through the hospital room until the baby started to fuss a little. Derek promptly handed his daughter off to Emily and the child was asleep again in seconds after some mommy cuddling. "We should all let you guys get some rest," Hotch announced. "You'll be needing it," he told them. There was another round of congratulations as each team member either kissed or hugged Emily and Kacey, and shook Derek's hand. Then they all exited as swiftly as they'd entered.

Kacey looked to her mother and the baby. "Can I hold her?"

Derek and Emily exchanged a glance and both nodded in agreement. They decided it would be best if Derek sat behind Kacey while she held the baby so he could help her balance the infant if needed. As soon as the baby was nestled in her arms, Kacey marveled at her sister. "She already gots a tan for summer. Is that 'cause she's a zebra?" the girl looked to Derek for an answer.

"Sort of," Morgan chuckled. He caught Emily's eye again. "She really does need a name," he said. "Maybe something biblical, given she was born in a church."

"I think her name is Lulu," Kacey said.

Emily frowned at Derek's biblical suggestion and was surprised by Kacey's. "I don't know, baby. That's…"

"I really like Lulu," Derek interrupted, aiming his gaze at Emily. "And you've vetoed everything else," he pointed out. "Lulu has meaning for us. It's a way to turn the darkness into light. Not to mention, we'll have one heck of a story to tell her about why we picked the name."

"True," Emily was still hesitant, though. "But don't you think… I mean, Lulu Morgan? Doesn't that sound a little like a stripper's name?"

"What's a stripper?" Kacey asked.

With just a look, Derek let Emily know it was her question to field. "A stripper is…" she paused a second. "It's a grownup who dances for a living."

"Oh," Kacey said. "I don't wanna be a dancer. I wanna be a Vet so I can take care of lots of animals."

"No surprises there," Derek replied with a happy smile. "It's settled then. Her name is Lulu; Lulu Francine Morgan."

"Wait a second," Emily protested. "Now I don't get a say in either name?" she asked. "I carried her, threw up for her, ate everything not nailed down and got fat for her, gave birth to her, and will be the one to nurse her."

He shrugged, not terribly receptive to her argument. "I didn't get to pick either of Kacey's names."

Emily's mouth hung open for a second, half way between a smile and a frown. "I didn't even know you then," her smile won out.

"That's not really my fault," he replied, goofy grin in place.

Kacey was used to their bantering style of showing how much they loved one another. She took it all in stride, still mesmerized by her baby sister. "Mommy, can we sing to Lulu now?"

"Sing what, baby?" Emily wasn't sure how she felt about the name already sticking.

"You know; the happy birthday song. Like you wrote in my card," the girl pointed out. "You sang to me the day I was born."

"I like that tradition," Derek spoke up.

Emily recalled when Kacey had been born. Lucas had rushed off to take care of some business and she'd been all alone with Kacey those first few days. Now she had Derek and Kacey to help her greet the newest member of their family. Emily much preferred the second option, happy to further shed that lonely life from her past. They all began to sing to the newest member of the Morgan clan. And by the time they got to: "Happy birthday, dear Lulu…" Emily liked the name. She liked that Derek and Kacey had picked it out and she liked that the four of them would always bravely face whatever awaited them in life, as a family.

When the song was completed, Derek addressed the baby. "Hey, Lu… since it's your birthday and you're not really old enough to make your own wish this year, I figured I'd make a few for you. My wish is that you grow up to be smart and beautiful like your mother, and as thoughtful and brave as your big sister."

"And as strong and loving as your father," Emily added.

"Amen," Kacey concluded. She looked to both her parents and smiled. "I think Lulu wants to go home now."

* * *

**The End**

If any of you follow my _Maze of Moments_ challenge fics, there will very likely be some tags to this story posted there in the future.  
Thank you all for reading!


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